The planned redevelopment of parts of Hong Kong’s historic Flower Market has come under fire, with a lawmaker and a former city leader urging the authorities to give greater consideration to the area’s cultural importance.
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) announced last Friday a plan to redevelop six sites around Mong Kok’s flower market, citing traffic congestion and limited space for pedestrians.
The project would involve 33 ground floor shops and 275 households and is expected to be completed in 2035-2036.
Writing on Facebook last Friday, former leader Leung Chun-ying, who is also a chartered surveyor, urged URA board members to visit the market to conduct research, and to learn from past lessons.
“Currently the Flower Market is doing better and better. It provides a wide variety of potted plants and gardening supplies and offers high value for money. It is as good as any foreign horticultural centre,” he wrote in Chinese.
“Don’t simply compensate the merchants with large sums of money and cut off the lifeblood of the market,” Leung continued. “Redevelopment is not just moving mountains and reclaiming land, and moving old merchants into new shopping malls. It’s not just about concrete and steel, or financial feasibility. “
Leung mentioned earlier redevelopment projects, including the city’s original bird market, where Langham Place now stands, and the relocation of Wing On Street’s fabric vendors into the Western Market.
“Those new sites kept the shape but lost the spirit… we failed to keep the old architecture or the industry – it’s a double loss,” Leung wrote.
On Sunday, pro-establishment lawmaker Doreen Kong wrote on Facebook asking why the URA had picked such a historic area to redevelop.
“In the redevelopment of Yau Tsim Mong district, [authorities] have chosen to target one of the most developed and culturally significant areas [to demolish], leaving people perplexed,” Kong wrote in Chinese.
“Looking at the URA’s seven-page [Flower Market redevelopment document], there is not a single word mentioning the market’s culture. In the eyes of URA, what’s culture? What’s preservation? ” Kong said.
“It is not just buildings that are going to be torn down, but the hard work of citizens over the past 80 years,” she added.
Charm of the past
With a history dating back to the 1940s, the Flower Market currently has over 100 ground floor shops and is popular with both residents and tourists.
Lai Wing-chun, a floristry industry representative and pro-establishment politician, said on RTHK on Monday morning that while he supported the redevelopment plan, it also made him feel “uncomfortable” as he has been doing business in the market for over 33 years and has grown very attached to it.
“Not just merchants, clients have also developed an attachment to this place. Even for those who have emigrated, whenever they return to Hong Kong they visit the market and buy some flowers to reconnect with the charm of the past,” Lai said in Cantonese.
He said residents and merchants were as yet unclear about plans for compensation and resettlement, adding that the URA would hold a meeting with stakeholders on Tuesday to discuss details of the proposal.
“Right now things are unclear. I hope that authorities will communicate with merchants and residents and provide good compensation plans,” Lai said.
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