Building conditions in Yau Tsim Mong, Hong Kong: Appraisal, exploration and estimation

Abstract

Like many other developed cities, Hong Kong has been suffering from acute problems of urban decay. To solve this building crisis, knowledge of the condition profi le of all buildings in Hong Kong is vital. A territory-wide evaluation of building conditions is required for providing valuable information to public organisations to prioritise action areas and facilitate resource allocation. Through such an exercise, the inherent problem of information asymmetry in building conditions can be resolved by means of screening or labelling. Buildings in better condition will be rewarded with a premium in property price, and this can foster a culture of building care through market forces. Assessing the performance of the whole stock of buildings in the city, however, can be a lengthy and costly process. In this light, this study proposed a practical but justifi able alternative for jump-starting the process. In the proposal, exogenous factors that could explain the variations in building conditions are explored using actual assessment information, and these determinants are used to estimate the conditions of other buildings without the need of actual assessments. The empirical fi ndings show that this proposed estimation algorithm works and has a number of practical and policy implications.

Engaging homeowners in building care in Hong Kong: Drivers and barriers

“…As aforementioned, no matter how stable or wholesome there were originally built years ago, the buildings are vulnerable to dereliction and decay if they are unmanaged. Mismanagement of buildings results in a large number of complaints about the dangers from buildings and accidents involving building structures in the past decade ( Yau, 2008 ). For example, from 1997 to 2008, the total number of reports about building dangers received by the Buildings Department increased at an average rate of 8.5 per cent per annum, as shown in (2001) also reported that 101 deaths and 435 injuries were resulted from building-related incidents during the period between 1990 and 2001.…”

Principle of Selectivity in Housing Rehabilitation Subsidies: Case Study in Hong Kong

“…Previous empirical studies (e.g. O'Dell, 1991;Spivack, 1991;Wong et al, 2006;Yau, 2008; evidenced that older housing tended to be more derelict or dilapidated. Besides, mortgage lending policies issued by the banks usually discriminate against old properties (Hetzel, 1981).…”

“…Building dilapidation has been a long-lasting urban problem in Hong Kong (Pryor, 1971;Hui et al, 2008;Yau, 2008; but financial aids for housing rehabilitation were available only after the handover in 1997 because a strategic framework incorporating building rehabilitation as a means of urban renewal had yet been developed. Following the recommendation by the Planning, Environment and Lands Branch (1996), an Urban Rehabilitation Fund amounting HK$500 million was committed by the new government in the first Chief Executive's Policy Address (Tung, 1997).…”

Evaluation of Property Management Agent Performance: A Novel Empirical Model

“…To operationalize the extraction of a PMA's performance in management of a MOH development from building condition, the physical condition of the MOH development (PC) was assessed using the Building Condition Index (BCI) [47]. The BCI is a multi-attribute assessment indicator of the existing condition of private multi-story residential developments, specifically-designed for the Hong Kong's context.…”