All land uses are temporary

Renato Marques

In the life of a place like Macau, there is no such thing as definitive land use. All potential uses that someone, either the government or the landowner, assigns to a given piece of land are always temporary and can only span from long- to short-term.

We probably know this better than anyone else, as Macau has evolved at an extremely fast pace, and almost every day we witness historical moments, in the sense that things that existed before cease to exist and become only fading memories.

It was in that exact way that the workers’ football pitch once gave way to the Grand Lisboa Hotel, or that the Estoril Hotel is giving way to the new Central Library, that Tap Seac first lost its grass, then its sports grounds, and is now even forbidden to play any ball games there.

All land use is temporary, and every building and facility is ephemeral.

Even those labeled “preserved” have had their functions dramatically altered, as with the former Bela Vista Hotel, which ceased to be a hotel and became a residence; Saint Raphael’s, the first Western hospital in China, has undergone several alterations over the centuries and is now the home of the Portuguese Consulate-General.

I could be here all day citing examples, but that is not the point. This is common and acceptable in any society, and assigning it a different purpose, or any purpose at all, is always better than abandoning or destroying it.

In this sense, justifying inaction regarding a particular land parcel or several land parcels on the basis that “a final plan has not yet been defined” is a myth, one that takes on even more dubious contours when the value of those parcels is considered extremely high.

Just as we are revamping former municipal markets and turning them into food courts, artistic and performance venues, and cultural and recreational spaces, there is no reason (other than veiled interests) not to use valuable areas such as the former Jockey Club in Taipa.

There is no need for a final mega plan, 388 studies, or hearing the opinion of every single citizen. We need to hear the people – yes! And their needs.

In fact, they have already spoken. They did so spontaneously, even before the horse races closed. They said what would be good to have there; some also said what they would not like to see there… What’s next? A long, strenuous, and weakening wait.

Yes, it is great to see some 39 land parcels being finally put to some use, but what about the others? What about the really big and important ones?

How long did it take for the government to finally concede that it was necessary to use the coastal waterfront for a leisure and sports area? 20+ years?! Do we have that much time? Do people in Macau have that much time to wait for the projects they have been hearing about almost since they were born?

Obviously, major projects do not materialize overnight, but is it not necessary for authorities to explain why the Taipa Line of the LRT took almost as long to build as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge? And before that, why was the project “marinating” for an extra five years?

The future will be the future, and while it is necessary to have a prospective vision for the city, it shouldn’t be used to justify inaction or the inertia to touch, change, or revamp areas whose projects we have been hearing about for decades.

Like Macau itself, building something new or repurposing something old is just a chapter in a much longer story.