Page 231 of 485
Tage 231 of 485
206
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
popularity of the Kowloon City Market (with 620 stalls) and the Po On Road Market (with 744 stalls) shows that the number of stalls is not the sole factor for ensuring viability of a market, but rather the level of consumer demand is a more important determining factor.
(13) Trade Mix of Stalls-Stalls selling the same goods should be grouped together in the same area on the same floor for fair competition. This does not necessarily affect the viability of a market, provided that each case is considered individually on account of consumer demand, compatibility in a particular area, and number/type of retail shops selling similar commodities in the same catchment area.
(14) Policy for Re-siting On-street Hawkers—to meet the re-siting requirement when there are inadequate stalls for relocation of all the eligible hawkers, a 'Hawkers' Licence Buy Back Scheme' was introduced for areas where the number of street hawkers for re-siting exceeds 200. For example, in the case of Pei Ho Street, an ex-gratia payment of HK$22,000 was offered in exchange for a wet goods hawker licence.
Another means introduced was group bidding, with priority to select stalls, to encourage hawker licensees to form partnership for stall operation.
In planning new markets in the future, we should avoid increasing the number of stalls simply for the purpose of reordering and re-siting all the on-street hawkers. We must ensure that the stalls are of a reasonable size for viable operation.
(15) Blocked Common Passageways by Goods-this problem which usually arises from the small size of stalls, may be resolved by improved market design, including the provision of larger sized stalls, elevated goods display platforms, and kerbs in front of the stalls to prevent goods display from being illegally extended to the common passageways.
(16) Stalls in Unfavourable Positions-Market designs should be improved to minimise the number of stalls in unfavourable or inconspicuous positions which are normally poorly patronised. Improvement measures should include reducing dead corners in a market, adopting an open design with low ceiling for stalls (i.e. no end walls or partition walls), enhancing visibility of stalls with elevated goods display platforms, cutting passageways into sections with several junctions to allow for better exposure of stalls.
The size of land for market construction is important and clearly a larger area will be a distinct advantage. A typical example of a well-designed market is the two-storey Shek Woo Hui Market, at an 8,000 sq m site with a total floor area of 16,000 sq m. In the urban area, due to limitation in land supply, our market sites are usually in the range of only 2,000-3,000 sq m. Therefore, good design is especially important to increase popularity and usage of our markets.
Page 231 of 485.
185