The managing director of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) on Sunday defended a project that involves the redevelopment of several sites around the Flower Market neighbourhood which some have criticised over fears the area might lose its unique character.

Writing on his official blog, Wai Chi-sing said while preserving the history of the Flower Market was important, there was also a need to provide more space, and a sustainable operating environment for florists.

"The average age of the buildings at the Flower Market area has exceeded 50 years, and they are inevitably ageing and deteriorating over time. Imagine if these buildings were not systematically rebuilt by the URA but developed independently by different private developers as individual projects. What level of impact would this have on the integrity of the Flower Market?” he said.

“Shop tenants would not only lack compensation assistance from the URA but also transitional or relocation options. In this scenario, how would the atmosphere and characteristics of the Flower Market be preserved and continued?"

He noted that the URA had conducted a survey of over 100 florists and 700 visitors to the Flower Market before starting the project.

“The survey found that the three major problems faced by flower shop operators are a lack of space to display goods, a lack of loading and unloading areas and a lack of parking spaces.”

Wai said the URA would address such problems accordingly, for example, by allowing more space for shops to display their flowers, and including a public car park in the design.

He urged the public to stop staying in the mindset that there is no need for change, saying that the successful completion of the project would require the participation of all stakeholders in society.