The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) will invest HK$500 million (US$63.7 million) in renovating buildings in at least four traditional areas in Hong Kong over the next five years and try to integrate new developments with older structures, the body’ top official has said.

URA managing director Wai Chi-sing on Sunday said the authority would use the funds to renovate buildings, revitalise communities and improve the design of public spaces, as well as to promote preventive maintenance in older areas, including Kowloon City, Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po.

Aside from existing subsidies and technical support, the authority would also provide financial incentives to landlords to encourage them to carry out maintenance and preventive care on their own, Wai said.

The URA will focus on revitalising older parts of Kowloon City.

Many older buildings were built with reinforced concrete, and when lacking proper management and maintenance, they last not much longer than 50 years. According to the Development Bureau, the city has roughly 4,000 buildings older than a half-century, with about 60 per cent concentrated in Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City, Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok, and Central and Western districts. The figure is set to increase by 500 every year.

The bureau also predicted that by 2046, there would be 326,000 private flats more than 70 years old, or roughly 300 times the number in 2015. Experts have long urged owners of older flats to take measures to prevent them from rapidly deteriorating and endangering public safety.

Wai noted Kowloon City spanned more than 170,000 square metres and was home to more than 600 buildings of various ages and conditions.

“We must implement a diversified urban renewal model, and slow down the ageing of buildings through rehabilitation, conservation and revitalisation strategies to reduce the waste of social resources, integrate new development with old buildings and improve the living environment and appearance of the community as a whole,” he said.

The URA announced a redevelopment plan last month for the area between Carpenter Road and Nga Tsin Wai Road in Kowloon City. The HK$15 billion scheme, the second-largest project by the authority and which will affect 1,600 households and 140 shops, is slated to yield 4,350 flats by 2037, in addition to the repair of old buildings around the site.

Wai said a research team had contacted about nine in 10 residents and businesses in the area over the past two weeks to register their identities and the occupancy of their units. The URA had already submitted the draft of its development plan to the Town Planning Board, he added.

The authority would use Kowloon City as a test bed for its “integration strategy” combining building rehabilitation, redevelopment, conservation and revitalisation, he said.

The project would cover buildings from Nam Kok Road to Tak Ku Ling Road that were about 40 years old and in no immediate need of redevelopment, Wai noted. The authority would contact the landlords or corporate owners of the buildings in the next few months to work out a plan to improve the quality of management and their overall condition to add value to them.

“I hope the pilot ‘integration strategy’ will gradually mature in Kowloon City to improve the environment, traffic and public facilities in the old district as a whole,” Wai said. “The owners of units can also continue to live in the area while enjoying a better community and facilities after the rehabilitation and renovation of the buildings.”