Unauthorised structures in a high-rise high-density environment-The case of Hong Kong

Extending the ground works of Ho (1993), Baldwin (1994), Walters and Hastings (1998a, 1998b) on property management in Hong Kong, this short paper documents the context[1] of research on illegal structures, explains the incentive for building illegal structures on government land and private property and discusses the significance of illegal structures for the proprietor and the property manager, as well as the relevant legislative provisions and policies.published_or_final_versio

'Farms are not Zoos': a Post-Colonial Study on Enclosure and Conservation of Military Heritage Buildings in Hong Kong

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Analysis of the construction waste management performance in Hong Kong: the public and private sectors compared using big data

There is an ongoing debate concerning the disparity between the public and private sectors in relation to construction waste management (CWM) performance: some argue that CWM performance between the two sectors should have no difference since they are under the governance of the same set of CWM related regulations, while others argue that public sector clients should perform better as they are subject to greater social scrutiny. Previous studies comparing CWM performance have suffered from insufficient quality data, leaving the debate on the CWM performance disparity largely inconclusive. Informed by the Coase Invariant Theorem, this research empirically compares CWM performance between public and private projects. It does so by using big data in the form of 2 million waste disposal records generated from around 5700 projects undertaken in Hong Kong during 2011 and 2012. It is found that there is a notable CWM performance disparity between the public and private sectors, with contractors performing better in managing both inert and non-inert waste in public projects than they do in private projects. Furthermore, the interviews and case studies conducted as part of the research suggest that CWM transaction costs are not high enough to incentivize contractors to manage waste conscientiously and therefore other institutional arrangements, such as promoting the value of environment protection leadership, are critical for achieving superior CWM performance. The research therefore supports the corollary of Coase Invariant Theorem, which asserts that certain forms of institutions would improve CWM performance by reducing transaction cost even though both sectors are subject to the same set of CWM-related formal public policies.postprin

The effect of SARS on the price of re-entrants in multi-storey apartment buildings

Natural lighting and ventilation have long been a primary consideration in building design, particularly for those high-rise and densely packed apartment blocks where mechanical ventilation is normally secondary. In Hong Kong, there are prescriptive legal requirements governing the provision of natural lighting and ventilation in private buildings. This, coupled with developers’ profit-maximizing incentives, often gives rise to re-entrant designs commonly found in apartment buildings in Hong Kong. This paper aims to study the economic impacts of the disposition of re-entrants on property prices with reference to the revelation of the chimney effect of re-entrants after the occurrence of the mass community outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Disease (SARS) in Amoy Gardens in 2003. In this study, we use a hedonic pricing model to examine whether flats designed with a re-entrant is sold at a different price than those without a re-entrant. We draw a sample of property transactions from a popular single residential development with variations in re-entrant designs. A total of 357 transactions were collected, of which 90 were transacted after the SARS event. The model is capable to monitor any significance changes in the premium of re-entrant and its relationship with floor level before and after SARS. Based on the hedonic pricing analysis, we found that the preference for re-entrants is floor-dependent. Before SARS, homebuyers were not fond of re-entrants on low floor levels, but they were willing to pay more for re-entrants as the floor level increases. Yet, the outbreak of SARS did not significantly change their preferences for re-entrants. The market is capable to capitalize the building design into property prices. Developers and designs should improve their building design to meet the ever changing needs of the market. This paper provides an empirical framework to examine how homebuyers price a particular design feature using property transaction data.published_or_final_versio

Comparative study of Building Performance Assessment Schemes in Hong Kong

Having access to information is essential when one needs to make a decision to buy property or renovate a building. However, information concerning the health, safety, and environmental performance of buildings is not always readily available. This creates a need for building performance assessment tools. This paper aims to compare the building performance assessment schemes available for use in Hong Kong, namely The Hong Kong Building Environment Assessment Method (HK-BEAM), The Intelligent Building Index (IBI), The Building Quality Index (BQI), and The Comprehensive Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme for Buildings (CEPAS). Their similarities and differences are pinpointed and discussed in detail. The findings of this study will serve as a guide for practitioners to decide on the schemes that best suit their purposes.postprin

An empirical study on the neighbourhood effect of refurbishment

An important portion of property value comes from property location, which is a function of the quality of surrounding environment (e.g. external views). In a congested living environment like Hong Kong, it is difficult, if not impossible, to have a view unobstructed by buildings. As such, the quality of views is dependent upon the aesthetic quality of surrounding buildings. It is likely that poorly maintained buildings will emit negative visual effects to their immediate neighbourhood. Refurbishing these poor buildings should, therefore, reduce or even counter this negative externality. This study aims to empirically identify the effect of refurbishment on the prices of neighbourhood properties based on an analysis of panel data in Hong Kong. The data consists of property transactions in a large housing estate located in Pokfulam. This estate was chosen because its surrounding buildings underwent refurbishment in 1998. Results show that the refurbishment brought a significant increase in the price of properties facing the refurbished buildings, keeping other things constant. Given the aging building problem in most urban areas, the results pose significant practical implications on building refurbishment and urban rehabilitation as a whole. Developers or property owners may be lured to invest in the refurbishment of adjacent dilapidated properties with a view to a value enhancement of their own properties.published_or_final_versio

Continuation of dabigatran therapy in "real-world" practice in Hong Kong

Background: Dabigatran, an oral direct thrombin inhibitor, possesses several advantages over warfarin that can in principle simplify the management of stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF). Nonetheless it remains unclear whether these advantages can translate to clinical practice and encourage long-term therapy. The objective was to describe long-term dabigatran therapy for stroke prevention in AF and to identify risk factors for discontinuation of therapy. Methods and Results: We studied 467 consecutive Chinese patients (72±11 years, male: 53.8%) with a mean CHA2DS2-VASc score of 3.6 prescribed dabigatran for stroke prevention in AF from March 2010 to September 2013. Over a mean follow-up of 16 months, 101 patients (21.6%) permanently discontinued dabigatran. The mean time-to-discontinuation was 8 months. The most common reason for discontinuation was dyspepsia (30.7%), followed by other adverse events (17.8%) such as minor bleeding (8.9%), major gastrointestinal bleeding (7.9%), and intracranial hemorrhage (1%). Other reasons included dosing frequency (5.9%), fear of side effects (4.0%), lack of laboratory monitoring (1.0%), and cost (1.0%). Multivariable analysis revealed that low baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (p = 0.02), absence of hypertension (p= 0.01), and prior use of a proton-pump inhibitor (p = 0.02) and H2-receptor blocker (p = 0.01) were independent predictors of drug discontinuation. In addition, there were altogether 9 ischemic strokes (1.5%/years), 3 intracranial hemorrhages (0.5%/year), and 24 major gastrointestinal bleedings (4.1%/year). Conclusion: Dabigatran discontinuation is very common amongst Chinese AF patients. This reveals a management gap in the prevention of stroke in AF. © 2014 Ho et al.published_or_final_versio

Benefits of cardiac rehabilitation in patients with left ventricular systolic heart failure

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Efficient attenuation of Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) cardiomyopathy by modulation of iron homeostasis-human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) as a drug screening platform for FRDA

Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA), a recessive neurodegenerative disorder commonly associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, is caused by silencing of the frataxin (FXN) gene encoding the mitochondrial protein involved in iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis. We aimed to utilize our previously established FRDA human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) derived cardiomyocytes model as a platform to assess the efficacy of treatment with either the antioxidant coenzyme Q10 analog, idebenone (IDE) or the iron chelator, deferiprone (DFP), which are both under clinical trial. In fact, DFP was able to more significantly suppress synthesis of reactive oxygen species (ROS) than IDE at the dosages of 10 nM and 25 μM respectively which agreed with the reduced rate of intracellular accumulation of iron by DFP treatment from 25 to 50 µM. With regard to cardiac electrical-contraction (EC) coupling function, decay velocity of calcium handling kinetics in FRDA-hiPSC-cardiomyocytes was significantly improved by DFP treatment but not by IDE. Further mechanistic studies revealed DFP also modulated iron induced mitochondrial stress as reflected by mitochondria network disorganization and decline in level of respiratory chain protein. In addition, iron-response protein (IRP-1) regulatory loop was overridden by DFP as reflected by the attenuated transferrin receptor (TSFR) suppression thereby reducing further iron uptake.published_or_final_versio

Attenuation of Hind-limb Ischemia in Mice with Endothelial-like Cells Derived from Different Sources of Human Stem Cells

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