What is special about Broadcast Drive or “A Hill of Five Stations”? It is all about residential properties and some broadcasting stations! These are the statements I often heard when I told my friends of my research topic but cultural significance of a place is not subject to its age, form and size. Broadcast Drive, a ring road of about 1.1-kilometre long, was developed from a massif in the mid 1960s. Sitting on a slope in the northern part of Kowloon Peninsula, Broadcast Drive was selected for housing all four broadcasting stations, namely Radio Hong Kong (later the Radio Television Hong Kong), Redifussion Hong Kong (later the Asia Television), Television Broadcasts Limited and Commercial Radio Hong Kong in the 1960s, since then the road was informally known as “A Hill of Four Stations.” With the introduction of the fifth broadcasting station, Commercial Television, in 1975, Broadcast Drive was given a nickname, “A Hill of Five Station”. Without any comprehensive study on the street, many people in Hong Kong share a common false truth that the centralization of all broadcasting studios at Broadcast Drive was due to the riot of 1967, but the rich layers, unique characters and cultural significance of Broadcast Drive have been ignored. This paper is aimed at filling the research gap, revealing the history and development of the place, and more importantly, identifying the distinctive cultural characters and cultural significance of Broadcast Drive through gathering documentary evidence mainly from primary sources, such as government records and confidential correspondences among departments, newspapers, photos, plans and site surveys. This study also uncovers unexpectedly that the majority of the studios at Broadcast Drive are the works of representing local architectural firms, which adds values to this short ring road. At present, among the original six studios of the five stations at Broadcast Drive, only four remain standing. As an urban cultural site, it is vulnerable to development. To manage the potential challenges arising from the future plan of Radio Television Hong Kong and the current zoning of the studios, some recommendations have been made in this dissertation to uphold the cultural values of the place. Broadcast Drive is not just a street relating to show business, entertainment and information, it also has a close association with our cultural heritage. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

Understanding the place is an important step in cultural heritage management. Conservation Plan of James Kerr, which was derived from the principles of Burra Charter, pointed out that in preparing conservation plan for a heritage place, we should start from understanding the place. This includes gathering both documentary and physical evidences for coordination and analysis before assessing and stating the significance of the heritage place. This information will eventually become part of the conservation plan. Understanding is a process. It first involves the identification of the landscape assets of the place. Without the background information of the place, the formulation of any conservation plan may not be able to reflect the cultural significance of the place. Thus, all conservation works should start with understanding the place. King George V Memorial Park (the Park) located between Hospital Road and High Street at Sai Ying Pun of Hong Kong Island is a very special place in the western part of Hong Kong. The place where the Park is located, evolutes with the urban development at Sai Ying Pun and eventually becomes the major cultural landscape of the district. To understanding the Park, it is important to understand the historical development of the place and how it evolves into the Park. The original setting and context of the place can still be found on site. Investigation of these traits may reveal the historical importance of the place and lead to the understanding of the changing cultural landscape there. The layout and masonry walls of the Park exhibit certain trait of military structures. Through investigation, the wall was found to be the remnant of an important medical complex in early Hong Kong. The wall may help in reconstructing the early medical history and the development in the district and also the whole territory. However, the historical background of the site was fading out and only a few character-defining elements could still be traced. With the information available, it is suggest5ed to re-define the heritage significance of the Park. With a clear understanding on the historical facts and background of the sites, it is hoped that proper conservation programme may be formulated to address the need. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

This dissertation is about an important area in the discipline of architectural conservation, and it is cultural Landscape, defined as the combination of built and natural heritage resources. The understanding of the concept of “cultural landscape” is relatively new to Hong Kong, having been formally introduced by Dr. Ken Nicolson in 2002 as part of the syllabus of the postgraduate curriculum of HKU’s Architectural Conservation Programmes (ACP). Today, the people of Hong Kong are more aware of cultural landscape, and the term now appears in government documents. However, the concept has been with Hong Kong for a long time, expressed in the principles of fung shui. Many of Hong Kong’s cultural landscapes are influenced by fung shui and a common feature is fung shui woodland, which will be the focus of this dissertation. Fung shui is a belief system and a traditional form of landscape planning, and villages in Hong Kong and their woodlands are sited according to the principles of fung shui. The purpose of fung shui is clearly described in Yoon (1980). He stated that the aim of Fung Shui, is to maximize the wellbeing of human by maintaining the harmony between human and the nature. It is believed that all matter on the earth; both living and non-living things carry Qi or cosmic breath, which are responsible for ensuring posterity and vitality. Either insufficient or excessive Qi would result in decline and misfortune. In “Venturing Fung Shui Woods (2004)”, it is mentioned that some of the oldest fung shui woodlands in Hong Kong date back to more than 300 years. Fung shui woodland is an important element of rural Hong Kong cultural landscapes representing our traditional belief system and high cultural significance. The author also describes fung shui woodlands as like a living herbarium or plant museum, offering valuable resources for both academic research and nature conservation. A review of the recent literature on fung shui woodland, in Fung Shui View (2012), the authors explain the value of the fung shui woodland is not only in terms of ecological, but also social. From the above publication, it is clear that the fung shui woodland is one of the important cultural landscape elements in Hong Kong, which illustrates our tradition cultural beliefs and the important value of original village settlements. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation