DEVELOPMENT: Shopping Centres in CHAI WAN

DEVELOPMENT:

Shopping Centres in CHAI WAN

柴灣

ARCH2058 Modern Architecture ASSIGNMENT 3: GUIDEBOOK

| Fall 2021

Development: Shopping centres in Chai Wan Tang Chun Man Chapman (3035798084) Chang So Yan (3035792468)

Introduction

Chai Wan MTR station, established in 1985.

This guidebook will bring you along to our journey, walking through 3 shopping centers in walking distance from Chai Wan MTR station, namely Winner Centre Shopping Arcade, Wan Tsui Shopping Centre and New Jade Shopping Arcade.

Via analysing the history, the architectural characteristics, the brands and shops inside, it can be seen how economical, technological and cultural development affect their physical appearances and purposes.

Exiting from Chai Wan MTR station through Exit A, immediately to New Jade Shopping Arcade.

Walkalong a footbrigde connected to it, a bifurcation will be encountered, one brings you directly to WAn Tsui Shopping Centre while the other leads you to the groundlevel, at the end of the bridge is Winner Shopping Arcade.

1 New Jade Shopping Arcade New Jade Shopping Arcade is the biggest shopping centre in Chai Wan, built in 1986, it is four levels high with over 85,000 km² area.

It has a modern but generic shopping mall design, with hanging upper floors with glass barriers. However, there a clear difference between the fourth floor and the rest, while the first three floors are more open and are dominated by international brands and chains, while the fourth one is more enclosed and contains small local stores.

This is due to the sale of property. Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd, original owner of New Jade Shopping Arcade sold the fourth floor to Hsin Kuang Restaurant Group in 2004, causing differnece in architectural style and purpose.

2 Wan Tsui Shopping Centre Wan Tsui Shopping Centre was built in 1979, it is the oldest among the three sites. Despite so, the interior of the mall has a modern futuristic space/fantasy design, it is filled with larger or more popular local brands and chains.

It looks reasonably new because it had been renewed twice. The first time was in 1997 and the second time was in 2017. Since the renewing process took more the half a year, many local stores were forced to close down, giving up space for big brands and corporations. But fortunately, some managed to remain.

This causes Wan Tsui Shopping Centre to be a place with a mixture of small local traditional stores as well as well known chains and brands.

3 Winner Centre Shopping Arcade Winner Centre was built in 1982, although it is not the oldest among the three sites, it’s design and the shops inside are very traditional and old-school compared to the other two.

The shopping arcade is fairly small and crowded, but neat and bright. It has a false ceiling and it is about 2 meters above the ground.

The floor plans are similar to a courtyard, where shops surround an escalator.

Most of the stores inside are local stores, selling daily necessities like clothes and electronics, as well as providing daily services like cutting hair and printing.

The reason behind is because it has not been renewed. So its traditional Hong Kong building style remains, so do the local stores inside, they can build up relationships with customers and thrive.

Site Development Chun Man Chapman, Tang

Wan Tsui Shopping Centre Wan Tsui Shopping Centre, located in Chai Wan Wah Ha Street, its construction started in 1973, finished in 1979. Compared to New Jade Shopping Arcade and Winner Centre Shopping Arcade built in 1987 and 1982 respectively, Wan Tsui Shopping Centre is the oldest, making it the very first shopping centre built in the eastern region of Hong Kong Island. The site it is located in was initially a park, Hong Kong Housing Authority decided to use half of the park to construct the first shopping mall.

Its main targeted customers are residents of Wan Tsui Estate, Chai Wan Estate and Yue Wan Estate. It was originally owned by Hong Kong Housing Authority, now its ownership was sold to Link Real Estate Investment Trust. Wan Tsui Shopping Centre has 6 levels

including rooftop, with a total of 75,806km² area. The ground level as well as the first two floors are where majority of the restaurants are located, the ground level is called Foodie Hub. The Third floor is Wellcome, a supermarket. The fourth floor is Wui Fung Care Home (Wan Tsui) Limited.

Wan Tsui Shopping Centre was initially named Chai Wan New Shopping Centre.

The reason behind is that Wan Tsui Estate was not there during the completion of Wan Tsui Shopping Centre, so its main targeted customers were residents of the old Chai Wan Estate instead of those of Wan Tsui Estate. The name was changed after Hong Kong Housing Authority the old Chai Wan Estate was replaced by Wan Tsui Estate.

Originally, there was a market attached and related to Wan Tsui Shopping Centre after it was built, called Wan Tsui Market, opened in 1979. However, in 2001, Chai Wan Municipal Services Building was completed. It is a few blocks next to Wan Tsui Shopping Centre,

closer to both Chai Wan Estate and Yue Wan Estate, providing market, library, restaurants and kindergarten to their residents. This cause the amount of customers in Wan Tsui Market to decrease significantly. In 2009, Link Real Estate Investment Trust decided to put an end to Wan Tsui Market, leaving its shopping centre alone.

There are three lifts in the venue. It is known that the lift doors were manually operated back then, and only the direction of the lift were automatically controlled, so the switch was disabled and people had to control the lift doors with their own hands. The lack-behind of technology caused great inconvenience and safety problems to the residents, leading to the first renewal of Wan Tsui Shopping Centre in 1997.

The first renovating construction lasted from 1997 to 2001. In such a long periods of time, local stores and even some bigger branded stores and restaurants cannot

survive without any income. Thus many were forced to close down, only stores or restaurant owned by large companies remained, for example, Café de Coral remained in Wan Tsui Building, just relocated to another spot. The death of many traditional local stores opened up space for famous brands and chains, the first McDonald’s in Chai Wan moved into Wan Tsui Shopping Centre in 1998 after renewing. There was also a change of purpose in certain floors. Like the fourth floor, originally a restaurant called Hoi Pa Seafood Restaurant was changed to Wui Fung Care Home (Wan Tsui) Limited, and the amusement park located at the ground level was given up for more stores. This may be due to the aging population problem in Chai Wan, as in 1998, the proportion of older persons to the total population in Hong Kong was over 10% already. It could be foreseen

by Hong Kong Housing Authority that this statistic could only go up at an increasing rate, has time proven that right.

In 2016, the property of Wan Tsui Shopping Centre was sold to Link Real Estate Investment Trust, who decided to renew the building again, which lasted from late 2017 to July of 2018. During this period, all stores except The Salvation Army Chai Wan Youth Integrated Service Centre, Wellcome Supermarket and Wui Fung Care Home (Wan Tsui) Limited were forced to closed or moved out of Wan Tsui Shopping Centre because of the same reason during the first renewing process. The traditional local stores created or moved in to Wan Tsui Shopping Centre during the period from 1998 to 2016 all died once again. Leaving opportunities for famous and large brans and chains like Salia Italian restaurant Saizeriya, Kyoto Handmade Sushi Specialty Restaurant, etc. Allowing them to now take up majority of the space in Wan Tsui Shopping Centre.

It is clear that the purpose of Wan Tsui Shopping Centre is to better the quality of life of the residents in Wan Tsui Estate, Chai Wan

Estate and Yue Wan Estate. The first few floors provide a great variety of food and restaurant choices, as well as having convenient store like 7-11. It also has a whole level for a well-known supermarket to provide daily necessities, and another level for an elderly home. Two renovating process kept the place clean and safe, but due to foreign investment, small traditional local stores are no match to big names for space in a newly renovated shopping centre.

New Jade Shopping Arcade New Jade Shopping Arcade is one of the medium-sized shopping malls in the Eastern District of Hong Kong. It is located at the base of New Jade Garden, near Chai Wan MTR station, and is one of the largest shopping malls in Chai Wan, with three levels high and 85,024km² of space.

One of the unique properties of New Jade Shopping Arcade is that the same shopping mall building is managed by two different

developers. The 4th floor of the mall is called “ Hsin Kuang Shopping Center”. This is because Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd sold the ownership of the whole 4th floor to Hsin Kuang Restaurant Group, which used it for Hsin Kuang Restaurant, but after the closure of Hsin Kuang Restaurant, they rented out the 4th floor partially, so the building style as well as the shop inside of the 4th floor of the mall is vastly different from other floors.

There are two exhibition spaces, one in the ground floor lobby atrium (1,000 sq. ft.) and the other in the MTR station access space on the third floor (35 sq. ft.)

All of the shops in New Jade Shopping Arcade are large and well-known brands and chains, food stores like 759 store, TenRen’s Tea, Starbucks, KFC, fashion shops like Bossini, Emperor Watch & Jewellery, Sa Sa, FANCL, etc. There is no local store in New Jade Shopping Arcade.

It can be seen that New Jade Shopping Arcade is solely for commercial purpose, to attract tourists and locals to consume. This may be due to its convenient location. It is directly connected to Chai Wan MTR station, with three mtr exits next to it. Apart from a great number of famous brands available inside, there are also two exhibition spaces for special events or for decorations during holidays, luring customers, it can boost both tourism and economic development of Hong Kong.

Winner Centre Shopping Arcade Winner Centre was built in 1982, it only has a ground floor and a basement. Although it is not the oldest among the three sites, its design and the shops inside are very traditional and old-school compared to the other two. This may be because it has not been renewed before, unlike Wan Tsui Shopping Centre.

The shopping arcade is fairly small and crowded, but neat and bright. It has a false ceiling and it is about 2 meters above the ground. The floor plans are similar to a courtyard, where shops surround an escalator. Most of the stores inside are local stores, selling daily necessities like clothes, electronics, and glasses as well as providing daily services like cutting hair, printing, tutoring, fixing electronics, etc. Most of them are at a very low and friendly price. The owners of the shops have built up great relationships with the residents in this region, they can bargain for a better price, owners can provide long-time customers with better deals.

Unlike Wan Tsui Shopping Centre, these traditional local stores lives for a long time in Winner Centre Shopping Arcade, allowing them to build up relationships with customers and thrive.

The Winner Centre Shopping Arcade’s purpose is same as New Jade Shopping Arcade, to better the quality of life of locals.

But instead of having restaurants and trust worthy supermarkets and brands, it provides daily services and necessities at down to earth prices. Although it looks the oldest and does not have any big brands, it is a hive of traditional local stores, walking through this shopping centre can see what the commercial part of Hong Kong used to look like.

The reason of avoiding renovation may be because the government wants to keep this image of traditional local stores, as a preservation of not only culture, but also the human touch of this neighbourhood.

Notes

1. The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China SWD Elderly Information Website. (2021, January 6). Wui Fung Care Home (Wan Tsui) limited. SWD Elderly Information Website | WUI FUNG CARE HOME (WAN TSUI) LIMITED. Retrieved December 20, 2021, from https:// www.elderlyinfo.swd.gov.hk/en/content/wui-fung-carehome-wan-tsui-limited 2. la chambre 501. (2013, April 12). Retrieved December 20, 2021, from https://rm501.blogspot.com/2009/08/ blog-post_17.html 3. shopping.(2021).Retrieved December 20, 2021, from https://www.shoppinggai.com/WingLeeShoppingArcade 4. Sun Hung Kai Properties. (2011). Retrieved December 20, 2021, from http://www.newjadeshoppingarcade.hk/ 5. Wikimedia Commons. (2021, October 4). Category:winner centre shopping arcade. Category:Winner Centre Shopping Arcade. Retrieved December 20, 2021, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Winner_Centre_Shopping_Arcade

Development of Shopping Mall

So Yan, Chang

1. Introduction Officially, shopping mall is defined as “one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnected walkways enabling visitors to walk from unit to unit” (Cambridge Dictionary). Basically, shopping malls, which are known as a modern version of the traditional marketplace, are establishing a variety of shops and restaurants, as well as a convenient parking area. They are heart and soul of communities, the foundation of retail economies. Hong Kong has over 120 shopping malls, no matter how large or small they are. They are usually owned and managed by real estate companies or real estate investment trusts (REITs). In this essay, we will take Winner Centre, New Jade Shopping Arcade and Wan Tsui Shopping Centre as examples to discuss the rise of shopping Mall, differences between New Jade Shopping Arcade, Wan Tsui Shopping Centre and Winner

Centre Shopping Arcade and potential of new shopping modes.

2. Rise of Shopping Mall In a changing demographic, such as an aging population and increased urbanization, more people are going to live in a small place, public spaces are becoming increasingly important for socializing and congregating. Shopping malls are a good and welcoming public space for people, especially in cities where other public spaces are relatively not safe. Also, many cities are advocating walkable city and sustainability under the COVID pandemic, more and more consumers prefer mixed use developments where they can live, shop and work all within walking distance, instead of having to get into a car and drive to a crowded suburban mall. Besides, shopping malls can provide a convenient shopping experience and a strong association between consumption and pleasure to their customers because they are including a variety of shops selling different types of product and they have different functions. Taking New Jade Shopping Arcade as an example, there are many sectors in

shopping, like food and beverage, fashions and accessories, beauty and personal care, electronic, together with lifestyle. Shopping malls are no longer similar to traditional wet markets which only provide one type of products, but are providing several different services which can meet the needs of customer and even driving the need for more engaging shopping experiences. Therefore, the number of shopping mall is increasing.

3. Differences between New Jade Shopping Arcade, Wan Tsui Shopping Centre and Winner Centre Shopping Arcade 3.1 Shopping mall attributes Shopping mall attributes refer to the mall’s traits and dynamics that may influence a customer’s view of it. They are separated into two categories: fixed/long-term and variable/short-term (LeHew and Fairhurst, 2000).

Fixed/long-term shopping mall attributes frequently used to describe items that don’t change over time or need a lengthy time to modify,

such as mall renovations. These include factors such as convenient location, the size of a shopping mall, adequacy of car park lots, provision of facilities (escalators, elevators, washrooms, drinking fountains), the quality of mall (design, shape, layout, age), conductive shopping atmosphere (lighting, spacious and air-conditioning), presence of anchor tenants, availability of other amenities (cinema, food court and restaurants), agglomeration, and visibility.

Short-term qualities, on the other hand, are those that can be readily adjusted or modified over a short period of time (e.g. 1 year or less). These include a good place for family and friends’ outings, flexible store hours, one-stop shopping, competition and synergy with other facilities and shopping malls in the vicinity, catchments of local, district, citywide or international patronages, cleanliness, security, activities, events and promotions, and services (staffed information booth) (Ibrahim, et al. 2003).

For New Jade Shopping Arcade, it is well constructed shopping malls build in 1986, with reasonable location and good condition of facilities,

as well as with multiple barrier-free facilities, including ramp entrances and exits, passages, lifts and accessible toilets, etc. The design fully considers the needs of wheelchairs/persons with reduced mobility. Most of the uneven places are equipped with ramps, and the ramps are relatively flat, so wheelchair users can easily get on and off. Both shopping malls have clear instructions, signs and staffed information booth clarify the location of different shops.

For Wan Tsui Shopping Centre, the venue has three elevators. The elevator doors were known to be manually operated back then, with just the orientation of the lift being controlled automatically, therefore the switch was disable and individuals had to manage the lift doors with their own hands. Residents faced significant discomfort and safety issues as a result of the absence of technology, prompting the first renovation of Wan Tsui Shopping Centre in 1997. And then the elevators and escalators were upgraded and relocated in more reasonable place. For the second renovation, Wan Tsui Shopping Centre adopted the futuristic sci-fi design that was popular at that time, and the total construction

expenditure reached 1.4 million. The signs inside the venue were designed in a modernist style.

Two renovating process kept the place clean and safe.

However, for Winner Centre, it has not been renewed before, unlike Wan Tsui Shopping Centre, since it was built in 1982, its design and the shops inside are very traditional and old-school.

Especially for the elevators and escalators, they are still in an old condition. And the air-conditioning system is still room of improvements as ventilation there is quite poor. There is a few of signs to show the location of the shops and staffed information booth is missing.

Those differences between New Jade Shopping Arcade, Wan Tsui Shopping Centre and Winner Centre may undermine the competitiveness of Winner Centre, leading to less customer flow in Winner Centre.

3.2 Product attributes Product attributes relate to the individual stores situated in a shopping mall. They relate to a

wide range of items, the availability of the most recent fashion and major large clothing shops, high-quality merchandise stores, a suitable pricing level, retail image, store/franchise reputation, and excellent customer service.

For New Jade Shopping Arcade, All of the shops are large and well-known brands and chains, food stores like 759 store, Starbucks, KFC, fashion shops like Bossini, Emperor Watch & Jewellery, etc. There is no local store in New Jade Shopping Arcade. It is solely for commercial purpose, to attract tourists and locals to consume.

For Wan Tsui Shopping Centre, well-known brands and chain stores takes up majority of the space in Wan Tsui Shopping Centre. Wan Tsui Shopping Centre’s stated goal is to improve the quality of life for residents of Wan Tsui Estate, Chai Wan Estate, and Yue Wan Estate. The first several levels provide a wide selection of food and restaurant options, together with convenience shop. It also features a level dedicated to a well-known grocery store that sells everyday goods, as well as a level dedicated to an elderly home.

While for Winner Centre, the majority of the establishments within are small local businesses that provide everyday essentials such as clothing, electronics, and glasses, as well as daily services such as hair cutting, printing, and tutoring.

The majority of them are available for a cheap price.

The differences of product of three shopping malls can meet all the need of residents in Chai Wan. 3.3 Transport mode attributes Transport mode attributes are a collection of characteristics relating to the mode of transportation to the shopping mall, and they are a characteristic over which shopping mall administrators have limited influence. It includes factors such as a short waiting time (waiting time for public transport or to leave/enter parking area), short walking distance (amount of walking involved in using public transport or from the parking area to the store), ease of travel (number of transfers required), low cost of travel (includes

parking cost where applicable), cleanliness of transportation mode, absence of traffic congestion, absence of stress, reliability of the transport mode and the comfort of transport mode (Ibrahim, 2002).

For New Jade Shopping Arcade, it is directly connected to Chai Wan MTR station, with three mtr exits, 8 minibus routes and over 30 bus routes next to it, and a pedestrian bridge leading to other shopping malls. But there is no parking vacancies.

For Wan Tsui Shopping Centre, there are 40 parking vacancies. There is a pedestrian bridge leading to an mtr station, 6 minibus routes and over 10 bus routes next to it.

While for Winner Centre, there is no parking vacancy. It takes 5 minutes walking from Chai Wan MTR station to Winner Centre. There are 2 minibus routes and over 5 bus routes next to it.

In comparison, transport mode of New Jade Shopping Arcade and Wan Tsui Shopping Centre is better than Winner Centre.

4. Potential of New Shopping Modes Except some conventional retail services like online banking, internet shopping is currently small in Hong Kong. Online shopping is likewise not likely to play a larger role in Hong Kong in the future. One reason is in such a tight city like Hong Kong, people have little need to purchase online because stores are readily situated. Furthermore, Hong Kong residents regard shopping as a kind of entertainment. The majority of Hong Kong residents like shopping and would prefer to do so outside rather than online.

Notes

1. Hui E.C.M., Ning, N & Chan, K.K.K. (2016) The Critical Factors for Shopping Malls in Urban Complexes in China, Facilities, 34 11/12, 662-681.

2. Hui E.C.M, Lau H.T. & Khan T.H. (2011) Effect of property management 3. on property price: a case study in HK, Facilities 29:11/12, 459-471 4. Institute of Shopping Centre Management (2014), Newsletter, Expertis View on Shopping Malls, various issues.

5. Ka-Sing, L. (2021, June 2). Hong Kong’s street shops in flux as pandemic upends businesses, creates new opportunities. South China Morning Post. https://www. scmp.com/business/article/3135555/hong-kongsstreet-shops-flux-pandemic-upends-businesses-createsnew 6. Ka-Sing, L. (2021b, July 4). Hong Kong coronavirus: shops change hands at a faster pace as owners bet on a retail sales revival amid. . . South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3139666/hongkongs-shops-segment-regains-buzz-amid-improvingeconomy-investors 7. New Jade Shopping Arcade|Hong Kong one-stop Accessible Information Platform|Accessible Travel Guide|Free Guider. (2021, August 18). Accessible Life Free Guider. Retrieved December 18, 2021, from https:// www.freeguider.com/en/venues/New-jade-shopping-arcade-disable-shopping 8. Rating and Valuation Department (2016), Hong Kong

Property Review 2016, Hong Kong Government. http:// www.rvd.gov.hk/en/publications/hkpr.html, accessed on 1 April 2017.

9. Sun Hung Kai Properties. (2011). Retrieved December 20, 2021, from http://www.newjadeshoppingarcade.hk/

Bibliography

1. h t t p : / / o 2 a n d 0 0 8 2 3 . b l o g s p o t . c o m / 2 0 2 0 / 0 3 / 2 0 2 0 - 0 3 - 1 7 . h t m l 2. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%92%B0%E7%BF % A 0 % E 5 % 9 5 % 8 6 % E 5 % A 0 % B 4 3. https://www.linkhk.com/tc/shopCentre/wtxxc2 4. http://www.newjadeshoppingarcade.hk/en/about.php 5. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%96%B0%E7%BF % A 0 % E 5 % 9 5 % 8 6 % E 5 % A 0 % B 4

The Modern Architecture Guidebook Hong Kong’s built environment represents a unique site of inquiry in the global history of the Modern Movement. The Modern Architecture guidebook series draw from an inter-disciplinary toolkit of knowledge, references, and field studies to understand the processes at work in the built environment. Each walking tour in the series begins with one of the 98 MTR stations in Hong Kong as the meeting point.

First opened in 1979, this modernist infrastructure has produced a city rationalized around transportoriented development. Organized around key themes (industrialization, colonization, environment, internationalization, migration, decolonization, counterculture, and globalization), the guidebooks present a critical yet open perspective towards the implications of large-scale modernist schemes on the environment and community.

© ARCH2058 Eunice Seng 2021