Macau Urban Renewal Limited (MUR) announced in a statement yesterday that views and suggestions from property owners and related entities in Iao Hon Estate continue to be collected to come up with an agreement for a “new community that integrates businesses, services, culture, and recreation”.
The local area plan for the Iao Hon Estate has been “preliminarily completed”, the statement noted.
The statement pointed out that considering the various issues in the Iao Hon Estate’s building blocks, aspects like assessing property owners’ views and ensuring that they are compatible with the urban master plan, are taken into account.
MUR Chairperson of the Board of Directors Peter Lam Kam Seng, Vice-Chairperson Leong Keng Seng and other MUR representatives recently visited the estate and met residential and non-residential property owners to explain the area’s design plan to enable them to understand it and attract more property owners to take part in the development, the statement said.
The statement pointed out that the estate’s urban renewal plan emphasises transformation, proposing to “restructure street connectivity as well as vehicular and pedestrian circulation” in line with the government’s urban master plan, while also maintaining the area’s current “urban fabric”.
The optimisation of the circulation system could also “improve community facilities and enhance public green space”, the statement added.
The statement pointed out that given the district’s dense population, the “stock optimisation” approach, where redevelopment will take place under the notion of not increasing resident population density or the household numbers, will be adopted.
The plan also covers seven plots of land that form the estate and adopts the vertical city concept, where “low-rise buildings are transformed into high-rise buildings that consist of underground car parks, podiums, and residential towers”.
The statement added that some of the podiums will have setback areas to create platforms for greening, with initiatives also to be extended throughout the neighbourhood by vertical greenery systems and greening on footbridges and pedestrian zones.
Footbridge connections between malls on podium levels to enhance the area’s business environment and “place-making” to meet residents’ needs are also suggested in the plan, as well as recommending two 16-metre-wide intersecting pedestrian zones to connect the master plan’s pedestrian system, linking up with nearby border crossing checkpoints.
For consultation and approval, the statement said that the plan will be presented to relevant entities.
The statement added that topics including ownership transfer and redevelopment incentives were discussed with property owners during recent meetings, with the owners generally agreeing that the local area plan would “contribute to a better quality of life and add value to buildings”.
Business owners, according to the statement, also agreed that the project’s pedestrian zone network and footbridge connection system could strengthen foot traffic, adding that detailed discussion can take place with a good planning proposal.
This undated handout photo provided yesterday shows MUR representatives including Peter Lam Kam Seng (second from left) briefing a business owner at Iao Hon Estate about the local area plan.
