Efficacy of Gross Floor Area Concession Policy: Empirical Study in Hong Kong
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 140, Issue 3
Abstract
In 2001, the Hong Kong government implemented a concession policy allowing green and amenity features to be exempted from gross floor area (GFA) calculations in new residential properties. There have recently been community concerns that developers are using this policy to substantially increase the floor area of buildings. In the 2010–2011 policy address, the Hong Kong government decided to tighten the existing policy. This paper attempts to estimate the efficacy of the proposed GFA concession policy. Five case studies are selected to demonstrate the change in GFA concession. It is found that the proposed GFA concessionary has a positive effect in controlling the height and bulk of buildings, and a reduction of approximately 4.58% GFA concession can be achieved, compared to the existing policy. However, some negative effects are also created, including the increase of housing price (or the drop of land auction price) and the discouragement of green features.
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Published In
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 140 • Issue 3 • July 2014
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 11, 2013
Accepted: Oct 11, 2013
Published online: Nov 27, 2013
Discussion open until: Apr 27, 2014
Published in print: Jul 1, 2014
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