News media interpretation on heritage rehabilitation and public perception : a case study of Wing Lee Street

Abstract

The conservation approach of “Heritage Rehabilitation,” as a means to give new life to deteriorated heritage buildings, seems to receive criticism from people of Hong Kong in recent years. While the government tries to promote this conservation treatment to strike a balance between sustainable development and heritage conservation, the news media appears to report related stories leaning to one side of public opinion: the side of conservationists, carrying a sense of criticism on government’s work to rehabilitate historic buildings. Studies in recent years indicated different preference on “what to conserve” among the government, scholars and the public in relation to heritage conservation. In addition, it also showed that the news media has an effect in pushing the conservation movement forward. However, there is limited research comparing the different opinions on “how to conserve” and investigating the news media’s effect on public perception on this conservation approach. This dissertation uses the rehabilitation of Wing Lee Street as a case study to explore and compare different perspectives on the rehabilitation work has been done on the street, ranging from those of the URA, architectural conservation scholars, those of the public expressed in questionnaires, the internet and via the news media, and news media interpretation. The comparison uses both statistical and text analyses. Findings suggested in the Wing Lee Street rehabilitation that there is no conflict in renovating the rundown Tong Lau and improving the street environments. However, concerning the degree of renovation, the use and maintaining the original community, there is a clear difference between the Urban Renewal Authority’s and other groups. While the Urban Renewal Authority put “Regulation” as its major reference for intervention, the scholars and public showed more concerns for the “Sense of Place” and the “Continuity of Life” on the street. The dissertation contributes to better understanding the different rationales and priorities for heritage rehabilitation from those expressed by the Urban Renewal Authority and architectural conservation professionals. In addition, it also illustrates public’s expectation on heritage rehabilitation, which will hopefully be a useful reference for a better outcome in future heritage rehabilitation projects.