Hong Kong possessed neither a heritage conservation policy nor coordination among government departments. This rather disorganized state of affairs prevailed until the current government established the Development Bureau on July 1, 2007, providing a policy mechanism for the conservation of historic buildings.

Secretary for Development Carrie Lam admits that in a city like Hong Kong, undergoing fast economic development over the past decades, little mind was paid to conservation. Hong Kong was not doing nearly as well as Macao when it came to conservation of heritage buildings.

"I think conservation and development are definitely friends, not enemies," she emphasized. "They are not mutually exclusive, as cultural and heritage conservation enhances the value and attractiveness of a city and provides added-value to the city."

In her opinion, the current government has done quite well in advancing conservation, winning the acclaim even of legislators and academic associations who have usually been critical in the past. She sees the key reason for this in what she calls the 'institutional advantage' created by grouping the development and conservation portfolios under one policy bureau.

"Many people think that conservation and development cannot co-exist, as development is a threat to historical buildings," she observed. "So I, as bureau head, need to make a very careful balancing act at the early stage. Since 2008, we have implemented a heritage impact assessment, with over 2,500 projects assessed and 30 of them subject to more detailed assessments."

She lamented, however, that it is a difficult job to save historic buildings without spending money, since lawmakers tend to oppose cash incentives to the building owners. That requires her to find more creative means to compensate the owners through other means.

"For King Yin Lane, we provided the owner another site nearby," she said.

"For the Anglican Church cluster of buildings, we allowed transfer of the development plot ratio of the site to another site, so that the historic buildings could be saved from demolition for redevelopment. For the old buildings in Prince Edward Road West, we relaxed the plot ratio and height restriction for redevelopment to rescue the buildings."

Lam wishes to clarify these are not cash compensations, adding that valuable sites that can be sold or used for further development will not be offered in compensation.

She also said conservations of historic buildings do not have strong commercial attractions, thus making financial input from the government inevitable. "Save the government input, these conservation projects cannot happen," she said.

Lam does not fully agree the society pays the price for conservation because cultural and heritage conservation enhances the value and attractiveness of a city. But the other way round, she agrees there is a price to pay because conservation projects are very expensive.

"Funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the Central Police Station Complex involves HK$1.8 billion while the Mei Ho House project needs $200 million," she said. "Since 2007, the Financial Secretary has committed HK$2 billion and the Urban Renewal Authority has spent over HK$2 billion on conservation, but Hong Kong, being a wealthy city, can afford that with ease."

(HK Edition 12/23/2011 page4)