The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (Friday) commences the statutory planning procedures of the Kai Tak Road/Sa Po Road Development Scheme (KC-015) in Kowloon City with an aim to renew the older part of the district by adopting a “planning-led” approach in redevelopment.
Through restructuring and re-planning, the project will complement the Government’s Kai Tak Development and emerge as a connecting point between the old and new districts in Kowloon City and Kai Tak Development Area. In addition, the project will address the shortage of parking spaces in the vicinity of the project area by incorporating a public car park in the project to help alleviate the problem, thereby creating more planning benefits to the community.
At a media briefing to announce the KC-015 project, Director (Planning and Design) of URA, Mr Wilfred Au, said: “The development scheme is implemented in accordance with the objectives set out in the Urban Renewal Strategy (URS) of 2011, with a view to restructuring the urban fabric and road layout for better utilization of land, and an improved built environment, through appropriate urban design landscape measures.”
Occupying a total area of about 6,100 square metres, the KC-015 project covers approximately 50 street numbers of buildings blocks (the even number of Nos. 24 – 82 of Kai Tak Road, and the odd number of Nos. 31 – 49 and 55 – 73 of Sa Po Road).
Outlining the planning intention of KC-015, Mr Au said the design of the project will tie in with the Government’s plan to develop the Kai Tak underground shopping street and its associated pedestrian subway underneath Prince Edward Road East (PERE). A portion of Sa Po Road within the project area will be realigned and converted to become a space for pedestrians, where it will be integrated with a splitlevel sunken plaza to become a vital node connecting the new Kai Tak Development area and the old “Lung Tong” area.
The underground floor of the sunken plaza will join the entrance of the subway leading to the Kai Tak underground shopping street such that connectivity between the two areas will be enhanced injecting vibrancy to the old “Lung Tong” area.
The ground level of the sunken plaza will integrate with the existing pavement of the Eastbound PERE, thereby providing an enlarged space and much improved environment for queueing and disembarking at the bus stops along the street. The URA will further liaise with relevant Government departments on possible street revitalisation work upon approval of the development scheme.
The development plan will maximise street frontages for ground floor shops with a view to increasing street vibrancy and retaining local characteristic of having small on-street shops. Revitalisation of the pavements within the project area will also be carried out with appropriate landscape design. The project will have an overall green coverage of no less than 30%, subject to detailed design.
Mr Au added that the KC-015 development scheme will also incorporate an underground car park with 300 public parking spaces for the community, aiming to alleviate the traffic congestion problem as a result of inadequate car parking spaces in the locality. The URA would also explore the feasibility of removing on-street parking spaces in the longer term for pavement widening so as to further enhance walkability of the area. Other urban renewal measures including revitalisation may also be deployed to bring additional benefit to the neighbouring environment.
KC-015 is commenced by way of a development scheme under section 25 of the Urban Renewal Authority Ordinance (URAO). The preliminary proposal is to provide about 40,100 square metres of residential floor area, in addition to some 8,000 square metres of commercial/retail floor area, of which about 800 square metres will be reserved for community purpose. With the application of place-making concepts, the split-level sunken plaza will provide no less than 1,000 square metres of open space where diverse activities can be held for public enjoyment supported by appropriate retail facilities to create an environment with vitality and local characteristics.
For more information please visit www.ura.org.hk
For enquiries, please contact: Mr Jonathan Lai +852 2588 2306
