Lee Tung Street (), known as the Wedding Card Street (; ) by locals, was a street in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. The street was famed in Hong Kong and abroad as a centre for publishing and for the manufacturing of wedding cards and other similar items.
As part of an Urban Renewal Authority (URA) project, all interests of Lee Tung Street were resumed by and reverted to the Government of Hong Kong since 1 November 2005, and subsequently demolished in December 2007. The demolition was seen by many as causing irreparable harm to the cultural heritage of Hong Kong.
The site was redeveloped as a luxury shopping and housing development. As with all other URA projects, no original tenants have been resettled on site.
History
The street was known for its printing industry, and Wan Chai was a longtime host of the headquarters of the Hong Kong Times, Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po. In the 1950s, print shops began to gather in Lee Tung Street between Johnston Road and Queen's Road East. Rumours had it that the government of Hong Kong mandated this in order to easily monitor illegal publication.
The poet and translator Dai Wangshu also established a short-lived bookstore in Lee Tung Street in the early 1950s.
In the 1970s, the print shops also began producing wedding invitations, lai see, fai chun, and other items, for which they became famous in the 1980s. Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong people visited the shops there to order their wedding cards, name cards, and traditional Chinese calendars.
The Urban Policy Initiative/ Objective of Lee Tung Street Urban Renewal Timeline
1998 – The Land Development Corporation announced the Development Scheme Plan including The Lee Tung Street/McGregor Street project (H15) 1998 – The Town Development Board approved the Development Scheme Plan. 1999 – The Chief Executive in Council approved the Development Scheme Plan 2001 – the Urban Renewal Authority was established and replaced the Land Development Corporation since Land Development Corporation's efficiency in redevelopment was not satisfactory. 2003 – Urban Renewal Authority conducted the occupancy survey 2004 – Urban Renewal Authority released the letter8 for the land and property acquisition in the affected area of H15 Renewal Project. 2005 – The H15 group submitted her own renewal proposal i.e. Dumbbell Proposal (啞鈴方案), which was awarded silver award by the Hong Kong Institute of Planners, but was rejected by the Town Planning Board (城規會) 2007 – H15 group failed to appeal the decision made by Town Planning Board in the Appeal Board Panel (Town Planning). 2009 – Urban Renewal Authority started a public tendering for the H15 Urban Renewal Plan. 2009 – The Urban Renewal Authority announced that Sino Land Company and Hopewell Holdings Limited got the joint development contract, enabling them to develop the H15 Urban Renewal Plan.
The procedures and institutions involved in the redevelopment plan
Urban Renewal Authority submits a development scheme plan to the Town Planning Board Town Planning Board Secretariat process the submission Town Planning Board decides if the plan submitted is suitable for exhibition or not. Town Planning Board arranges a publication of such development scheme plan in the Gazette Town Planning Board publishes the development scheme plan Urban Renewal Authority publishes the development scheme in the Gazette Urban Renewal Authority carry out a freezing survey in the affected area Town Planning Board considers objections to the development scheme plan. Town Planning Board submits the development scheme plan to the Chief Executive in Council Chief Executive decides to approve the DSP or not.
Redevelopment
In 2003, the Urban Renewal Authority announced it would spend HK$3.58 billion to redevelop Lee Tung Street and McGregor Street, an area covering . According to an authority spokesman, up to the end of June 2005, more than 85 per cent of the 647 affected homeowners on Lee Tung Street had agreed to accept compensation offers of HK$4,079 per square foot. The purchase of the land was expected to be completed early 2006. The street was duly demolished starting in December 2007. In its place will stand four high-rise buildings and one underground car park, and new shops fitting in with the proposed image of the street as a "Wedding City". That means the old shops there, which were mostly small businesses and family-run, had to move elsewhere to continue operating, facing high rent and losing old customers.