Evaluation of the historic building assessment system in Hong Kong : a study on the use value of public housing estates

Abstract

This paper reviews the historic building assessment of Hong Kong with an emphasis on the use value of heritage. It includes review of the international charters regarding conservation of historic buildings and uses three aged public housing estates in Hong Kong as case studies. It also investigates how the public and professionals perceive use value of historic buildings. Here, the use value refers to the functional and economic values of heritage; the former refers to compatibility to current use and suitability to adaptive re-use, while the latter is estimated by willingness to pay (WTP) amount for operation and maintenance of historic buildings. The study includes both quantitative and qualitative research. For quantitative part, a questionnaire is conducted with contingent valuation method, as an estimation of the WTP for operation and maintenance of selected historic buildings. For qualitative part, interviews are conducted to obtain the in-depth views of professionals in the built environment field, towards current practice of historic building assessment in Hong Kong and application of use value into assessment. Results from the questionnaires and interviews suggest that the professionals have strong reservations on incorporating use value into historic building assessment of Hong Kong. The reasons behind were explored. Moreover, a weak negative correlation is found between functionality of the estate to meet current needs and the willingness to pay amount. For the selected public housing estates, the WTP amount estimated is found to be positively correlated with the social ties of a person to the historic building, thus better-known public housing estates have higher estimated WTP amount. Despite the findings do not support incorporation of use value of historic building into the assessment, this study nevertheless provides insights for policymakers to reconsider and reform the historic building assessment of Hong Kong used since 2005. The estimated WTP amount can act as a subsidiary reference for authorities to understand the social value brought by historic buildings to the public, in order to strike further balance and explore alternatives to total preservation and total redevelopment of historic buildings, including public housing estates.