Planning Buildings for a High-Rise Environment in Hong Kong: A Review of Building Appeal Decisions

401 Pages·2000·21.15 MB·English

by  Lawrence Wai-Chung Lai

PLANNINQ
BUILDINQS
I v/l CI.
HIQH-RISE
ENVIRONMENT
. ..
A REVIEW OF BUILDINQ APPEAL DECISIONS
HONQ KONQ
iI
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LAWRENCE WAI-CHVNQ LAI
DANIEL CHI-WINQ HO
PLANNING BUILDINGS
FOR A HIGH-RISE ENVIRONMENT
IN HONG KONG
A REVIEW OF BUILDING APPEAL DECISIONS
To our students
at the University of Hong Kong
and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University
PLANNING BUILDINGS
FOR A HiGH-RlSE ENVIRONMENT
IN HONG KONG
A REVIEW OF BUILDING APPEAL DECISIONS
LAWRENCE WAI-CHUNG LAI
BSocSc (Hons), MSocSc (Econ), PhD (HKU), LLB (Hons) (London),
MTCP (Sydney), MRAPI, MHKIP, MCIT, Registered Professional Planner
DANIEL CHI-WING HO
BSc, MBA (CUHK), PhD (HKU), FRICS, FHKIS,
Registered Professional Surveyor (BS), Authorized Person
* m *. ¥ a K& *t
HONG KONG UNIVERSITY PRESS
Hong Kong University Press
14/F Hing Wai Centre
7 Tin Wan Praya Road
Aberdeen
Hong Kong
© Hong Kong University Press 2000
First published 2000
Reprinted 2002
ISBN 962 209 505 4
All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical including photocopy, recording
or any information storage or retrieval system, without
prior permission in writing from the publisher,
Hong Kong University Press.
Secure On-line Ordering
http://www.hkupress.org
Cover designed by Lea & Ink Design
Printed in Hong Kong by Liang Yu Printing Factory Company Ltd.
CONTENTS
Foreword vii
by Professor David Lung
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xiii
Note on Reprint Edition xiv
List of Illustrations xv
List of Building Appeal Cases xvii
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter 2 Building Appeal Rules and Principles 17
Chapter 3 Comments on Building Appeal Cases 53
Chapter 4 Summary and Analysis of Building Appeal Cases 71
Appendix 1 Cross-sectional Profiles of Victoria Harbour and 327
Sydney Harbour
Appendix 2 A List of Practice Notes for Authorized Persons 329
and Registered Structural Engineers (Revised 08/01)
Appendix 3 A Comparison of the Building (Plan) Application 337
and Planning Application Systems
VI Planning Buildings for a High-Rise Environment in Hong Kong
Appendix 4 The Building and Planning Application Appeal 339
Procedures
Appendix 5 Buildings and Related Ordinances, Policies 341
and Events
Appendix 6 A Comparison of Interpretation of Lease 343
Conditions Relating to Building Control
between the Lands Department and the
Buildings Department
Bibliography 349
Index 355
HI FOREWORD
Hong Kong's economy is one that is land and development driven. In the
densely packed urban areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon, where most buildings
do not last for more than 50 years, cyclical redevelopment on the same piece
of land is the 'name of the game'. Marine Lot No. 104, for instance, the land
which Hong Kong Bank sits on, has been enlarged and redeveloped over 4
times since its first development in the 1850s.
During the course of redevelopment of old building lots, it is inevitable
that the owners' desire to cater for modern comfort, and keep maximize their
financial return by fully developing sites, will create many conflicts. Disputes
and appeals are often the results.
This book is about building appeals. It examines over 40 unreported
cases, which are systematically categorized and analysed, and gives the reader
an overall perspective of each situation. As a member of the architectural
profession and of the academia, I find it most useful.
The authors, Lawrence Lai and Daniel Ho, two of my most respected
colleagues in the Department of Real Estate and Construction, the University
of Hong Kong, undoubtedly have invested a great deal of effort in researching,
assembling and introducing the materials in a thoughtful and orderly manner.
Their work will make the research tasks of others immeasurably easier. They
are to be congratulated for their noble effort.
David Lung
Professor of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong
Chairman of Antiquities Advisory Board
Member of the Managing Board, Land Development Corporation
December 1999

HI PREFACE
This book was Lawrence Lai's idea. Inspired and encouraged by his Town
Planning in Hong Kong: A Review of Planning Appeal Decisions, we felt that
there should be a similar volume which addresses the key issues arising from
the decisions of the Building Appeal Tribunal. As a result, we each suffered a
twelve-month solitary confinement after lectures to work on this book and
risked failing our own examinations (there are just too many examinations in
life!). We hope that our efforts have paid off in providing a detailed analysis
of planning considerations in building appeals.
Statutory building control is a key link between the overall planning and
development control of the built-form of Hong Kong. The hallmark of Hong
Kong built-form is its extremely high density and high-rise approach to nearly
all types of land use. This is unique in the world. In terms of town planning,
statutory building control through the building plans application process has
been the major vehicle of enforcing statutory town plans, which do not have
enforcement powers except for those that begin their lives as 'interim
development permission area' plans prepared for the rural areas.
In this context, it is unfortunate for both professionals and students in
town planning and building development that there have been few systematic
accounts of the major decisions of the Building Appeal Tribunal. A notable
exception is an article written by Mr Bokhary, now a Court of Final Appeal
Judge, on s. 16(l)(g) of the Buildings Ordinance. It was published in the
Hong Kong Law Journal in 1989. Nor is there any integrated work on the
relationship of town planning, building control and valuation in the
development process. An exception is the succinct and excellent work, Valuation
of Development Land in Hong Kong, written by Mr P. J. Roberts. It was
published 24 years ago by Hong Kong University Press, and by now outdated.
By conducting a comparative analysis of 40 selected building appeal cases