Law Ting Bong Titus 3036231863, Wong Hei Chit Anson 3036220541
Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7pyazxj6UM
Anson: Hi there, thank you for joining our video podcast, I am Anson, and my other teammate is Titus. In this video, we are going to focus on our fieldwork research regarding Man Wah Building, which is going to be demolished and vanished in the near future.
Anson: To start with, let’s talk about the background and the past of Man Wah Building. It is known as the Man Wah New Estate, composed of 8 buildings and located at the junction of Ferry Street and Jordan Road in Yau Ma Tei. Its predecessor is the Yau Ma Tei Pier and the Hong Kong and China gas Company. In 1955, the Montana Lands limited had bought the land nearby and developed it into residential buildings in 1961. Before the mid 90s, the Man Wah Estate was originally surrounded by the coastline of the Victoria harbor. However, the government had proposed and carried out the West Kowloon Reclamation Project, highways and other infrastructures were built as time passed by. Until now, it has a history of more than 55 years already.
Anson: So why is it vanishing and how do we know it will vanish in the near future? With the opening of the Austin Station in 2009, the area around the Man Wah Estate had become an excellent location for traveling between Mong Kok, Tsim Sha Tsui and West Kowloon, and it even facilitate the transportation between mainland China and Hong Kong with the Hong Kong West Kowloon railway station nearby since its initial opening at 2018. The improvement of the traffic convenience had raised the land price of the entire area. After 2010, several new and modern residential buildings were constructed continuously in Austin. For example in 2013, the Coronation, had its construction completed, which is 29-32 stories high and provides 740 units.
Titus: Its shopping mall, named Coronation Circle, was designed with a palace theme, with Roman-style columns and corridors. Supposedly, a shopping mall located underneath a housing estate should be facilitating daily lives of the residents, by providing all sorts of shop including catering, pharmacies, stationery shops or kiosks. Yet, according to our observations of the on-site visit, more than 90% of the shops are open for sale, not occupied. This is extremely strange for a well-developed estate, with consideration taking in that it has opened up for 10 years.This shows a huge contrast between the Man Wah New Estate and the Coronation, the Coronation is an example of a household, yet for Man Wah New Estate, it is a community, with different types of shop that brings in the resident together with one another, and let them co-live, and symbolically, the co-living environment of this area has already proved its diminishing status since the redevelopment project started. The redevelopment project will not come to an end soon, as later on in 2022, the Urban Renewal Authority had released the urban planning called “ the district study for Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok’, which involves the redevelopment of the Man Wah housing estate. In the redevelopment blueprint, it has proposed the reconstruction of the comprehensive redevelopment area in West Kowloon, in order to shift the plot ratio to utilize the street area. The goal is to develop the entire space into a mix-used purpose with commercial center, retail business, hotels and residences. With more new construction projects built, Man Wah Estate still preserving its uniqueness and nostalgia in the center of those projects, the sense of time difference could just be more and more significant.
Anson: The redevelopment project causes huge influence to the entire estate, as it will affect not only the residents, but also numerous shops and businesses owners that are working there. We have conducted some interviews with them, let see how they are affected and what are their feelings towards the issue. The first one is the owner from a laundry shop. The second one would be the owner from a stationary shop. The third one is the owner of a bread shop. (After the interview) According to the interviewee, they all know that the government is planning to demolish the Man Wah Estate and redevelop the entire area, but they generally don’t have a concrete plan on their next step once the implementation starts. Also, most of them have been working and living there for a very long time, and have already built up a deep relationship with the neighbors, they feel sad and nostalgic if they have to move. Though the estate is kind of old as it has a long history, should it be redeveloped becomes a controversial topic. It is pessimistic to say that there is indeed nothing the residents and we can do to stop the project, though the redevelopment blueprint has still halfway to go, but we believe that the Man Wah Estate will eventually become a vanished landmark that could only be reviewed in history.
Titus: Finally, during our field trip, we have observed a special phenomenon which leads to a unique architectural space in the buildings. When you look upwards, you will see that there is a platform on the first floor which is filled with personal belongings of the residents. According to the floor plan, the relevant spaces are not regarded as private space. Since then, the residents had obtained those spaces for private use, like growing plants and drying clothes. You may also see some are packed with exhaust pipes and ventilation fans which are installed and connected to the windows, causing the building to become the style of industrial buildings. However, due to safety concern, the owners corporation of the estate has posted notice to warn the residents not to occupy the public spaces.
Interview transcript:
Laundry shops:
- Are you a resident living in the Man Wah estate? *Yes.
- How long has this laundry shop been operating? *It has been operating for about 20 years or even more, possibly 18 years or above.
- Do you know that there is a planning of redevelopment here and do you know when will it be demolished and redeveloped? *It is uncertain whether the government will initiate it soon, we are also waiting for the government’s plan.
- We have noticed that many self-service laundry shops have opened recently, and is there any impact on your business? *A little bit. Compared to previous years, there is a certain level of risk, but it has been manageable in recent years.
- Finally, we want to know if you have any plans in case the building is indeed demolished. *I don’t have any planning at the moment. I will assess the situation and see how things develop. As for the distribution and resettlement, it would largely depend on the specific arrangements by the government and relevant authorities like the amount of money to compensate the residents here. (Cont) Will you have any plans of opening another shop after the demolition? *No.
Stationary shops:
- Are you a resident living here? *Yes, I am a resident in this specific neighborhood.
- Do you know that there is a planning of redevelopment here and do you know when will here be demolished and redeveloped? *It’s uncertain. Yes there is such notice, but the timing largely depends on when the government provides such information, possibly within the next three to four years, it’s difficult to say for sure.
- How long have you been operating this shop? *It has been around 20 years since its opened. *Yes, it’s owned and operated by me.
- Do you encounter any difficulties in running the business, such as rental or operating issues? *As a small business, the customers are all neighbors, they all live here. We have regular customers from both the residential units upstairs, which is different from the shops outside.
- What are your plans if the building after her is being demolished? *My plans would depend on the circumstances at that time. I am going to make my decision when it comes but not now.
- If you are really going to leave, will you feel sad or nostalgic to this place. *Yes, definitely. We have a sense of community here, and over the past 20 to 30 years, we have developed a close relationship with many regular customers, they are all familiar faces of the neighbors. We greet each other and have a friendly rapport.
Bread shop:
- Are you a resident here? *Yes, I live here.
- How long have you been living here? *As long as this shop had here been opened, and I have been living here, I think around 30 years. The shop has been here for over 50 years, I just know the shop owner before so I take up this shop to work as soon as he retired.
- Do you know when the redevelopment will actually happen? *The government? To be honest, I don’t think they will start the redevelopment in my lifetime. (Cont) So you have a pessimistic view about the redevelopment? *The government doesn’t have enough money. They probably don’t have the funds, right?
- Do you face any challenges in these years? *If there are fewer customers, we eat less. We do everything ourselves, so we don’t have to employ anyone.
- Finally, I wanted to ask if you have any plans after the redevelopment? *I am going to retire for sure. Just wait for the government. Redevelop? Probably after 20 years. It’s been proposed for 30 years already, even before you were born, and we’re still talking about it now. I mean, it’s been so many years since the redevelopment was mentioned. Whether you believe it or not is up to you. It’s already been so long, and they haven’t done anything yet. There is a lot of residents here, who have that huge amount of money to compensate for the residents living here, at least 300 billion dollars.