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in architectural design to avoid source of noise and / or air quality nuisance.
But the key is there are land resources still available in the urban areas,
the location of which might not be commercially viable enough to be
converted into private residential (or mixed) development, yet with the
potential of more optimised development for public uses.

For instance, in view of the severe problem of inadequate housing
situation (e.g. sub-divided units) particularly in the urban areas, these sites
may be used to support the construction of composite structures that
contains the original use and with NGO-operated low-rent accommodation,
or even centres for the homeless atop.

When there is a will, there is a way. In fact, the government has
already carried out similar rezoning initiatives. For example, the GIC site
containing a temporary car park and a temporary refuse collection point at
the junction of Fuk Wing Street and Camp Street, Cheung Sha Wan has
been rezoned for Residential (Group A) use, with the requirement that a
minimum of 70 public car-parking spaces and a refuse collection point to
be provided (Figure 39).
Figure 39: The junction of Fuk Wing Street and Camp Street, Cheung Sha Wan

Source: Our Hong Kong Foundation.

We acknowledge that the environmental factors surrounding
these sites may not always be the most ideal as housing units, e.g. noise
and air quality may be of concern. However, given the quickly deteriorating
situation of the housing problem like the sub-divided units in recent years,
we suggest the government to further review such sites in the urban area
and consider short-term solutions like the ones described above. We hope
that these land resources could provide at least a temporary relief for the
inadequately housed. Alternatively, these land resources can at least be
considered to support a denser development of other public facilities, such
as community centres.

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