A VERY LUCRATIVE SAVING SCHEME回報可觀的活化計劃

How – and why – governments and developers in Asia are rescuing heritage buildings亞洲各國政府及發展商紛紛拯救古蹟的原因及方式

It’s a deceptively simple narrative. Europe preserves and values its built heritage. In Asian cities, breakneck growth and untrammelled modernity rule – and if some old buildings get in the way, so what?

But sometimes narratives are too simple. This one understates how much in Europe and America has been lost to the planners rather than the bombers – and how much was only just saved. Today, places like Amsterdam, New York’s Greenwich Village and London’s Covent Garden attract millions of tourists. But in the 1960s and ’70s Amsterdam’s canals were nearly filled in, Greenwich Village’s streets were scheduled to be replaced by a freeway and the neoclassical Covent Garden market building was due to be torn down. All three places were saved by the spirited opposition and campaigns of local inhabitants.

For whatever reasons, social or political, local protests on that scale are rare in Asian cities. Instead, the hope for its built heritage increasingly lies in the hands of individuals, entrepreneurs, the more far-sighted property companies and government departments, which are finding that saving the temples and the hutongs, the colonial headquarters and ancient lanes isn’t just a good thing: it’s good business, too.

Hong Kong has rarely been a good example to the region. But last November, Wan Chai’s Blue House was awarded Unesco’s highest conservation award for cultural preservation. The award rounded off a year of landmark heritage projects in the territory: the opening of The Murray hotel, fashioned out of a dour 1960s office block on Cotton Tree Drive; and District 15’s development project in Shek Tong Tsui, galvanised by its Yat Fu Lane retail project. There’s more: this summer will mark the grand opening of the Central Police Station, the largest scale heritage project in Hong Kong since Central’s Police Married Quarters was reborn as the PMQ cultural hub in 2014. (See page 44 for more.)

‘Over the past few years there has been a renewed effort to preserve these types of buildings,’ says Ester van Steekelenburg, founder of the campaigning group and tourism operation Urban Discovery. ‘It’s an Asia-wide thing: we’re seeing it in Bangkok, in Hong Kong, in Jakarta.

‘ Take the old pre-war shophouses [such as those in Central’s Graham Street Market]. They weren’t deemed as valuable; they were seen as ordinary buildings. Now there is a realisation that not everything has to look the same.’

Alongside the ‘soft’ benefits that come from cultural preservation (more liveable cities, a sense of community) there are hard figures. Unesco and The World Bank claim that sustainable tourism will generate US$1.8 billion (HK$14 billion) by 2030, much of which will contribute to sustainability and the preservation of both tangible and intangible heritage.

And so governments and private developers are eyeing dilapidated buildings and neighbourhoods across some of Asia’s once-grand colonial cities and turning them into bars, cafes and co-working spaces.

Here are some of Asia’s latest and most eye-catching preservation stories.

這種說法未免過分簡單，而且不盡實不 。歐洲對自己的歷建史築是確 十分重視，更善保加護；不過，亞洲城市則被極速增長及毫無節制的現代化發展牽著鼻子走，假如舊建築阻礙發展之便除 而後快，很少人會設法保育。

而且這種說法亦流於避重就輕，其實歐洲及美國的歷史建築毀於發展商手上的數目，遠比被炸炸彈 毀的要，多而剩下的有好些只是僥倖逃出生天。，今天 阿斯姆特丹、約紐 的格林威治村及倫少的柯芬園等地方，吸引數以百萬計的遊客前往遊覽。但其實在1960及70年代，阿斯姆特丹的運河幾乎被填；平 格林威治村的街道已定期清，拆 準備改建為高速公路；至於新古典主義風格的柯芬園市場建築，亦準備進行拆卸。這三個地方都全賴當地居民的堅持，發起反對清拆運動，最終才得以保存下來。

不論是社會、政是治還 其他原因，如此大規模的本地抗議活動，在亞洲城市裡並不多見。大眾反而逐漸將保存歷史建築的期望寄託於個別人士、企業家、較有遠見的地發商政產 展 及 府部門身上。，然後 這些人或機構開始現發，拯救寺廟、胡同殖、 民時代遺政下的 府總部及古老小街並非只是好事一樁，更是一盤盈利厚豐 的生意。

香港在保育方面，向來並非亞洲區的模範。但在去年11月，灣仔藍屋獲聯

合國教科文組織頒發最高榮譽的文化遺產保護獎。這個獎項為本一來地 年 進行的多歷地項 史標目上項 畫完美：句號 其中括位於紅、棉道由1960年辦代 公大樓改建而成的The Murray酒店，以及西環日富里零售發展項目這（是發商由 展 District 15推動的方塘咀發展項目的首部分）等。

此外中， 區警署亦將於今年夏季正式開幕，這是自中環已婚警察宿舍於2014年活化為文化基地PMQ元創方後，最大規模的歷史建築保育項目詳（ 情參閱頁44 。）

Urban Discovery是一個倡議團體，同時營運旅遊業務，其創辦人Ester van Steekelenburg表「示： 過去幾年再次興起保育這類建築的潮流股，這 風氣吹遍亞洲曼， 谷、香港雅和 加達都有類似的目項進行。」

「就以中環嘉咸街街市一帶的戰前舊樓為例，這種別具特色的唐樓以前只被視作 尋常建築物，沒有什值麼價 ，但如今大家已經明白，並非有所 事物都要看上去一模一樣的。」

文化保除育 了令城市更適宜居住和提升社區意識等「軟性」效益之外，還有實際收益的數字作支持。聯合國教科文組織及世界銀行指出，到了2030年，可持續旅遊將帶來18億美元（ 140億港元）收的 益，當中大部分收將入 惠及可持續發展與物質及非物質文化遺產的保作育。工

因此政府及私人發展商現在將目光向洲轉 亞 一些曾經繁盛顯赫的殖民地城市上，搜索當中日久失修的建築、被人遺忘的街道和破落的社區，打算將這些地活方 化，改造為酒吧、咖啡室及共享工作空間等，重現昔日的風華。

接下來為大家介紹亞洲一些最新和最矚目的保育項目。