{"id":6011,"date":"2025-05-21T15:46:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T07:46:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/?p=6011"},"modified":"2025-06-12T17:09:27","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T09:09:27","slug":"high-hopes-for-our-yuppie-utopia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/zh-hans\/%e7%bd%91%e8%aa%8c\/high-hopes-for-our-yuppie-utopia\/","title":{"rendered":"High hopes for our yuppie utopia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hong Kong, 21 May 2025:<\/strong> Journalist Dan Rottenberg is credited with first printed use of the term \u201cyuppie\u201d \u2013 short for young urban professional \u2013 in a<\/a>n article<\/a> for Chicago<\/em> magazine in 1980. He noted the city centre had sprouted multiple new apartment blocks to accommodate upwardly mobile residents keen to avoid the stodgy suburban lifestyles of their parents. \u201cThe yuppies seek neither comfort nor security, but stimulation, and they can find that only in the densest sections of the city,\u201d he observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Rottenberg denied coining the term, claiming he had heard it elsewhere, it stuck. With their penchant for upscale living, gourmet dining and cultural pursuit, yuppies have driven the gentrification of old neighbourhoods worldwide. While this brings investment and rejuvenation, it also causes socio-economic displacement and, some argue, loss of charm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hong Kong is no exception. Wan Chai, Sham Shui Po, Sai Ying Pun and other ageing districts have been transformed in recent years. Coffee shops, chic restaurants, art galleries and yoga studios keep bodies healthy and minds invigorated. Much of this regeneration is guided by our Urban Renewal Authority, the quasi-governmental, profit-making statutory body responsible for accelerating redevelopment of fading neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the URA has To Kwa Wan \u2013 on the eastern shore of Kowloon and adjacent to our city\u2019s famous harbour \u2013 in its sights<\/a>. It envisions the district as a world-class waterfront development akin to Sydney\u2019s Darling Harbour or Oslo\u2019s Aker Brygge promenade. URA managing director Wai Chi-sing already has a name for it \u2013 \u201cVictoria Cove Area\u201d \u2013 and foresees offshore barges converted into restaurants and concert stages. Inland, hundreds of hectares are eyed for redevelopment, meaning new homes, leisure facilities and transport options. It will, we are told, become a tourism hotspot. A feasibility study has been commissioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sounds wonderful, b<\/a>ut there are obstacles<\/a>. No less than 11 government departments and policy bureaus will need to be involved, while part of the land is privately owned by construction and gas companies. Harbourfront Commission chairman Ivan Ho acknowledges as much, admitting: \u201cThe real challenge is the implementation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To illustrate this, a smaller but still-ambitious waterfront project immediately to the west, in Hung Hom, is already under scrutiny<\/a>. Our government wishes to construct a marina able to hold 200 yachts, plus a nearby 50-story residential-commercial tower with entertainment facilities. It is one of three new marinas planned along our extensive coastline \u2013 providing a total of 600 berths \u2013 following city leader John Lee\u2019s pledge last October to boost yacht tourism. Construction, which will take more than a decade, is scheduled to start in 2029, with preliminary costs north of US$1.3 billion. The private sector is expected to foot the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debate is intense. Executive Council convener Regina Ip \u2013 citing Monaco and Barcelona as models \u2013 wants the marina to have customs, immigration, quarantine and maintenance facilities. Lawmaker Michael Tien is unhappy the proposed 1,300 private flats will only have an average size of 700 sq ft; make them bigger and attract foreign investment, he suggests. His colleague Benson Luk insists the development must come with policy support, pointing out yacht owners have to apply for multiple licences before being allowed to sail in Victoria Harbour. While broadly supporting the venture<\/a>, Harbourfront Commission members are worried about ageing facilities and the area\u2019s creaking transport network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also the bigger picture to consider: preserving \u2013 and accessing \u2013 our stunning harbour. In 2004, it was deemed \u201ca special public asset and a natural heritage of Hong Kong people\u201d in a landmark ruling by the Court of Final Appeal. That case against the Town Planning Board was brought by the Society for the Protection of the Harbour, which is dismayed lawmakers have now passed a legal amendment<\/a> making it easier for the government to carry out small-scale reclamation works. The move also paves the way for larger reclamation under a new mechanism which gives John Lee the final say. \u201cThe protection of the harbour is not embedded in the law as it was before,\u201d laments ex-district councillor and environmentalist Paul Zimmerman. The society, which had been on the point of winding up, is now weighing one final legal challen<\/a>ge<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we need some optimism and positivity to counter all this angst, James Irvine provides it. He is director of commercial operations at Kai Tak Sports Park, our city\u2019s enormous new sports and entertainment hub which, coincidentally, sits at the heart of the URA\u2019s To Kwa Wan vision. James is my latest guest on Law & More<\/em>, speaking with profound eloquence about the scale and variety of Kai Tak\u2019s incredible facilities and why it is such a game-changer for our city. Please listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In closing, I should draw attention to the recent Cheung Chau Bun Festival, which dates back to the 19th century and entices thousands of spectators to the picturesque outlying island. Competitors scale a 14-metre bamboo tower covered with 9,000 plastic buns, collecting as many as they can in three minutes, with those nearer the top worth more points. Congratulations to \u201cbun king\u201d Kwok Ka-ming on his 10th triumph in 20 years while Janet Kung claimed her third women\u2019s title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another example, my friends, of an old neighbourhood attracting residents who are \u2013 literally, in this case \u2013 upwardly mobile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until next time, everybody!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colin Cohen<\/strong>
Senior Partner<\/strong>
Boase Cohen & Collins<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hong Kong, 21 May 2025: Journalist Dan Rottenberg is cr […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6008,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-54"],"yoast_head":"\nHigh hopes for our yuppie utopia - \u5e03\u9ad8\u6c5f\u5f8b\u5e08\u884c<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/zh-hans\/%e7%bd%91%e8%aa%8c\/high-hopes-for-our-yuppie-utopia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High hopes for our yuppie utopia - \u5e03\u9ad8\u6c5f\u5f8b\u5e08\u884c\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hong Kong, 21 May 2025: Journalist Dan Rottenberg is cr […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/zh-hans\/%e7%bd%91%e8%aa%8c\/high-hopes-for-our-yuppie-utopia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u5e03\u9ad8\u6c5f\u5f8b\u5e08\u884c\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-21T07:46:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-12T09:09:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/HUNDRED52cov_PHOTO2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1831\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"867\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Niall Donnelly\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u4f5c\u8005\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Niall Donnelly\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 \u5206\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/zh-hans\/%e7%bd%91%e8%aa%8c\/high-hopes-for-our-yuppie-utopia\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/zh-hans\/%e7%bd%91%e8%aa%8c\/high-hopes-for-our-yuppie-utopia\/\",\"name\":\"High hopes for our yuppie utopia - 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