Heritage Conservationin Hong kong (Policy and Planning Context Review)

Abstract

Since the enactment of the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance in 1971 and the establishment of Antiquities and Monuments Office in 1976, the Hong Kong Government has set up several institutions with particular ordinances and schemes for Heritage Conservation. With the set-up of government initiatives, yet the protection of physical and cultural heritage is still limited due to the ambiguity of policy and planning. So, the main aim of this paper is to identify the loopholes of existing policy and planning of heritage conservation and to suggest revised policy framework. After a thorough review towards the existing policy framework of heritage conservation in Hong Kong, together with the lessons learnt from international case studies (Singapore, Australia and Macao), it is found that six major deficiencies affecting the different aspects within the process of heritage conservation in Hong Kong. They are: Insufficient coverage of heritage's context; inadequate institutional capacity; limited conservation approaches for privately-owned buildings; inadequate incentives; shortage of funding sources; and lack of transparency. After the identification of deficiencies from the existing heritage conservation policies and institutional arrangement, a new set of recommended policy is suggested to improve the deficiencies. The recommended policy framework contains four aspects: Revision of political system; provision of integrated conservation approaches and incentives; diversification of funding sources and widening of public participation.