An empirical study of willingness to pay on social value for Hong Kong revitalized built heritage : a case study of Tai Kwun

Abstract

Built heritage revitalization conserves and repurposes historic sites to serve the public while enhancing their social values. This research aims to evaluate the relationship between social values and willingness to pay (‘WTP’) amount for conserving a built heritage across different phases of revitalization and uses. Adopting the contingent valuation method (‘CV method’) and the WTP model, this study has measured four social values namely ‘sense of place’, ‘quality of life’, ‘social inclusion and cohesion’ and ‘community participation’ in monetary terms, using Tai Kwun as a case study. The analysis between two different phases of revitalization namely the Construction Stage and Operation Stage is materialized with the comparative study using the data collected by the author in 2024 (Operation Stage) and the data from the previous study “Evaluation of the social values and willingness to pay for conserving built heritage in Hong Kong” also on the same site. This precedent study by Dr. Esther H. K. Yung and Prof. Edwin H. W. Chan although published in 2015, its collection of data was completed in 2010 when Tai Kwun was yet to open (Construction Stage). The data of this research has been collected through online and face-to-face surveys. The analysis of the 201 valid responses have indicated that three social values including ‘sense of place’, ‘social inclusion and cohesion’ and ‘community participation’ have a positive correlation with the WTP amount for Construction Stage, which is consistent with the findings in 2010. Respondents’ education level, age and satisfaction with the site are the factors that have demonstrated impacts on the WTP amount. Moreover, the findings have revealed that all four social values are positively correlated with the WTP amount for Operation Stage, where respondents’ familiarity with the site