Revitalization scheme for industrial buildings in Hong Kong : does it harbour the cultural and creative industries?

Abstract

Due to economic restructuring, manufacturing businesses were relocated from Hong Kong to mainland China, leaving a substantial stock of industrial buildings (“IBs”) unoccupied. Between 2010 and 2016, the Hong Kong government implemented the Revitalization of Industrial Building (“RIB”) Scheme to stimulate the reuse of these space resources. Furthermore, the initiatives sought to free up additional space for the growing cultural and creative industries in the area (“CCI”). Nonetheless, the efficacy of this goal is questioned. Uncertainty was put on CCI current development, which was entrenched in several industrial structures. Apart from that, the mechanism and development of RIB schemes for promoting CCI development are rarely studied in previous literature in Hong Kong; CCI-specific key performance indicators (“KPIs”) are still being developed in Hong Kong and linkage between RIB-related elements and CCI development in Hong Kong are still on the way in the academic world. To fulfill this research gap, this dissertation focuses on investigating the impacts of RIB Schemes on CCI developments in Hong Kong. Regarding methodology, qualitative (literature review, case studies and interview) approaches are adopted. Firstly, both the implementation of the RIB scheme in Hong Kong and the current situation of CCI development in Hong Kong are reviewed in the literature review. Secondly, case studies (JCCAC, The Mills and D2 Place One) are conducted to explore and understand the performance of various CCI projects in five perspectives. For interviews, 8 interviews were conducted to investigate more KPIs of CCI development, RIB-related factors, challenges, and suggestions to promote CCI development in Hong Kong. Lastly, data analysis would be conducted through a Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software called NVivo 12 to summarize all findings and propose relevant suggestions to tackle the limitations of RIB policies and face the challenges of promoting CCI development in Hong Kong. KPIs of CCI development, RIB-related factors, limitations of RIB policies and suggestions to improve these policies and to enhance the CCI development in Hong Kong are the key findings of this research. KPIs of CCI development are identified from five different perspectives including: basic, economic, social, political and culture & creative, while location and rental cost of the CCI projects are the most important indicators. For RIB-related factors, they are identified from three different perspectives including: economic, social & political. Both positive (Financial incentives, high flexibility and lower car parking standard) and negative impacts (high construction cost, long application time, poor building condition, etc.) are identified by analyzing the opinions in both literature review and interviews. Limitations of RIB policies including few restrictions on the uses of IBs, high land price, short implementation period and limited cases to carry out wholesale conversion are spotted in literature review and interviews. Corresponding suggestions to tackle these limitations and challenges like long-term policies, promoting redevelopment and more useful recommendations are summarized in the later data analysis. It is hoped that the findings of this research would aid the government in improving and proposing RIB policies to promote better CCI development in Hong Kong and increase the effectiveness of the RIB Scheme.