Urban renewal and social sustainability: An exploratory study of the urban life of Wan Chai

Background Urban renewal has become an important issue in Hong Kong, which is experiencing considerable population growth pressures and urban decay in various districts. Ho et al. [1] noted that urban renewal often creates not only environmental problems such as demolition waste, but also social problems such as destruction of existing social networks and the fabric of long-established communities. Despite the Urban Renewal Authority (URA)’s claim to foster, encourage, and support sustainable development, it is not difficult to find negative comments from the public about various aspects of urban renewal, in particular with regard to urban sustainability the social dimension of sustainable development. In fact, in the past ten years, there have been several social movements concerned with or directed against redevelopment programmes in urban areas. What these social movements have in common is that participants are not only affected residents or business owners, but also members of civil society who do not live in the affected districts. Some scholars have started to criticise the URA’s planning approach, and stated that there is a need to review the practices of urban renewal in Hong Kong [2]. Through a comprehensive review of urban development, urban planning and urban renewal in Hong Kong, and case studies and observations of Wan Chai, this study attempts to explore the influence of planning ideology and modernist urban planning on urban renewal practices in Hong Kong. It also considers why most residents do not support, and even oppose, the urban renewal projects of the URA.