For many people over many decades, the Mid-Levels—the area up the hill from Bonham and Caine roads—was the ideal neighborhood to live in. This high-priced residential area has long been symbolic of social status. In early colonial days, only the British were allowed to live there. Today, Mid-Levels is known as the neighborhood of the rich and famous, with the city’s lowest crime rate. However, the past decade has seen the Mid-Levels turn into yet another overcrowded, overpolluted residential district just like any other in Hong Kong.

And the worst is yet to come—overpopulation and congestion will only increase in the coming decade thanks to new MTR stations in the area, another escalator, and a new law that makes the tearing down of smaller old buildings to be replaced by towering skyscrapers much easier. This all means more traffic, more pollution and many, many more people—government projections see the population rising by 10 percent in the area over the next 10 years.

Visit any property agent in the Mid-Levels and you’ll get an idea of just how expensive it can be there—most flats have a price tag of over $10,000 per square foot these days, and we’re not even talking about the new, primary market properties (the Mid-Levels being home to the controversial 39 Conduit Road development, which contained an apartment that Henderson Land falsely claimed had been sold for $88,000 per square foot, which would’ve made it the most expensive flat in the world).

But it wasn’t just for status that so many people originally moved to the area—the Mid-Levels was long known as one of the city’s quieter, greener districts because of the abundance of trees and lack of public transport. It was untouched by the MTR and only a handful of diesel-spewing buses stopped in a few areas. Many residents relied instead on the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator, which links the district to Central, or took private transportation.

But ultimately the Mid-Levels owes its success as a highly livable district to the government-imposed constraints on development. The area has traditionally been less crowded—it’s that simple. In 1972, the government imposed a moratorium on the area, “introduced on traffic and transport grounds.” As the Ombudsman explained in a report in 2006, “in the light of the traffic assessment and the known extent of development then, it was concluded that for the Mid-Levels area, all further sales of Government land, and all further modifications of Government leases to permit more intensive development, should be deferred.”

However, the moratorium also clearly stipulated that it was not to be used to prohibit development. In fact, because the moratorium is merely a set of administrative measures, they don’t override private property rights, according to the Development Bureau, which means that the Lands Department “must respect the development rights as permitted under the lease.” Plus, since many of the private land leases in the Mid-Levels were signed way before 1972, the moratorium technically doesn’t touch them and the government cannot control these private owners from redeveloping their land. Since the 1980s, many of the six-storey high buildings in the area, most of them tong laus, were knocked down to make way for buildings 30 or even 40 storeys tall.

Today when you walk down Caine Road and then Bonham you find yourself surrounded by skyscrapers. You are in the midst of what many call the “urban canyon effect,” where skyscrapers on both sides of the road block air circulation. In 2006, the Ombudsman released a report on the efficiency of the moratorium, and blasted the government for failing to control Mid-Levels development. The report said, “in terms of its stated objective, the moratorium has clearly failed: the continued building developments and redevelopments have resulted in a rise in the number of residents and traffic volume in the Mid-Levels”.

The government is seemingly well aware of the deteriorating quality of life in the Mid-Levels. Earlier this year, they commissioned a study that found 189 of the 420 plots of land in the area might be redeveloped, and by 2021, the number of households would rise from 30,000 to 33,060. And because of that, the traffic volume during rush hour would increase by 11 percent.

But that hasn’t convinced them to take stronger measures than the existing moratorium. In fact, the government is actively considering lifting the moratorium by 2014, to coincide with the construction of MTR stations in Western District and the Mid-Levels, as well as another Mid-Levels Escalator in Western District. They are suggesting that lifting the moratorium will only bring 0.74 percent more traffic than with the moratorium in place as is. This deduction is based on the fact that the government believes lifting the moratorium will only add 250 more flats into their projected number of flats by 2021. The government’s plan is now under review by the Central and Western District Council.

Making matters worse, in April the Legco passed an amended law that will allow developers to seek a compulsory sale of a building after they have accumulated 80 percent of property interests, provided the building is more than 50 years old (meaning if 80 percent or more of the owners agree, a developer will be entitled to buy out the remaining tenants). The percentage used to be 90 percent, which had prevented many buildings in the Mid-Levels from being torn down and replaced with skyscrapers. Next Magazine found earlier this month that Richfield Group Holdings, a property developer famous for acquiring old buildings for redevelopment or reselling to bigger developers, have already acquired 16 old buildings in the Mid-Levels at the moment. That’s
16 new opportunities for skyscrapers.

Is there anything we can do? Not really. It appears that the government has aligned themselves with the developers, and the laws are certainly not on the side of Mid-Levels residents. An area once praised for its privileged position in society with quiet streets, green areas and open spaces, will soon be just another overcrowded, congested Hong Kong district. There is, however, one thing you can do, according to think tank Designing Hong Kong: invest your money somewhere else—in a different neighborhood that promises to be greener, more open and more valuable in 20 years time.

SO WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE MID-LEVELS?

 OVER-DEVELOPMENT

The Ombudsman has studied the development of seven skyscrapers in the Mid-Levels following the implementation of the moratorium and has come up with the following average data.

In the past two years, almost 30 applications have been approved for redeveloping buildings in the Mid-Levels into skyscrapers 50 storeys high or more. This number will undoubtedly increase, thanks to the new law this year that allows developers to snatch up buildings after only 80 percent of residents agree to sell (it used to be 90 percent)—which means that these older, smaller buildings will undoubtedly give way to towering, luxury monstrosities.

 AIR POLLUTION

Because of rapid skyscraper development, the Mid-Levels is now suffering from worsening air pollution levels. The new developments have slowly created a so-called “walled development,” blocking the ridgeline, and blocking the airflow from Island South to Central and Sheung Wan, and ultimately creating the urban canyon effect on many of the streets in the Mid-Levels.

 NARROW SIDEWALKS

Most of the roads were planned at the turn of the last century when there was a lot less development in the area. But following the increasing amount of traffic into the area due to these rapid developments, roads have been widened to reduce congestion. This means sidewalks have gotten smaller, as seen here in this picture, where pedestrians need to tread carefully with a lot of patience to get through the neighborhood.

TRAFFIC JAMS

Traffic jams are a fact of life in the Mid-Levels, and proof that the government’s moratorium is hardly effective. A government study has shown that, in the past 20 years, the car flow in the Mid-Levels has grown slower rather than faster, meaning that the traffic has worsened. In 1984, the average car speed per hour on Robinson Road was 23 kilometers; in 2004 it was 13.6 kilometers only. This is the slowest average speed in all of Hong Kong Island. Legislator Tanya Chan, who is also a Central and Western district councilor, earlier commented: “There’s no space to widen the roads. The government needs to think about the state of the area in 20 years’ time if they allow this construction to continue, and then make their judgments.”

SENTIMENTS FROM LOCAL RESIDENTS

CAROLYN
“I’ve lived here for four months. There are too many skyscrapers that make it hard for air to move around and circulate, and there are many cars such as minibuses, buses and taxis.”

ERNEST
28, banking
“It’s too noisy here now with too many cars. But then the area is so close to where I work so I won’t move.”

WINNIE
22, student
“I study at the University of Hong Kong and I’m in this area often. Traffic jams are inevitable here because a lot of roads are one-way traffic.”