The Hong Kong Perspective of Housing in Vancouver

Kwok helped develop various areas in Metro Vancouver

A columnist with the Vancouver Sun interviewed a 96-year-old man named Stanley Kwok, who was instrumental in developing the former Expo 86 land into a downtown core filled with condos, that writer Douglas Coupland has called "City of Glass".

Kwok was originally from China, graduated in Shanghai in 1948 and then fled to Hong Kong. He then moved to Vancouver in 1968.

A big project was developing the Expo land

Not only has he had a hand in developing Vancouver, but also Whistler, Victoria's Inner Harbour, Metrotown in Burnaby, and an entire waterfront in Dubai.

When Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing was interested in buying the Expo 86 land, Kwok represented him in the negotiations and ran Concord Pacific.  

As Vancouver is facing a housing crunch these days, with not enough houses people can afford, let alone rent, Kwok's solution is to build higher. 

The era of single-family housing in Metro [Vancouver] is "more and more difficult" to maintain, he said. "So you start living in apartments. Other cities have grown up that way. It's just a different way of living. Why do we have to stick to the past?"

Does Kwok know that Vancouver is in a earthquake zone? Surely building too high is not a good idea? And for some people their goal is to have a detached house for their family. 

Perhaps even more surprising is his idea of what affordable housing should be, again compared to Hong Kong.

Vancouver now known as the City of Glass

"When Hong Kong talks about affordable housing, what they consider is providing a certain amount of square footage per person. That's all they're concerned about. They don't care what it is. They're very small. But here it's different. Here they say the standard has to be this or that. They say, 'To house a family not only do you have to have a bedroom for the parents, you also have to have a bedroom for each kid.' That makes it more expensive. And somebody has to pay for that."

While Kwok may claim this, there are families living in basement suites, or two or three people sharing a one-bedroom place. Everyone is trying to make do with the situation they've got. But he cannot and should not compare apples and oranges. 

He also inadvertently reveals how callous the housing situation is for the poor in Hong Kong. He believes just giving people tiny spaces to live is better than nothing. Perhaps he hasn't seen subdivided flats and cage homes?