Yue Man Square Rest Garden

曾經的觀塘是僅為現在茶果嶺一帶，直到1960年代政府決意興建觀塘新市鎮，大批的工廠和商廈落成，觀塘市中心才遷移到裕民坊，取其富裕興民之意。80、90年代，香港工業發展江河日落，1989年土地發展公司(市區重建局的前身)公佈觀塘市中心重建，直到2008年才正式落實。目前的裕民坊休憩花園，成為觀塘市中心最後的舊地標。花園南北向的通道成為旅客和街坊進出新建巴士站的必經之路，人流不息。在未來，市建局有意移除該休憩花園，僅保留原有的數棵榕樹。它既作為旁觀者見證著觀塘市中心的興起、發展和衰落；又作為當局者，在都市更新的推進下消亡。

Kwun Tong used to be only the area around Cha Kwo Ling, until the government’s decision for new town development in the 1960s. A large number of factories and commercial buildings were built, and Kwun Tong’s town centre was moved to Yue Man Square, for its name has the meaning of ‘the prosperity of the people’. Within the context of Hong Kong’s declining industries in the 1980s and 1990s, the Land Development Corporation (the predecessor of the Urban Renewal Authority) announced the redevelopment of Kwun Tong’s town centre in 1989, which was finally completed in 2008. Yue Man Square rest garden has become the last old landmark in Kwun Tong town centre. The north–south paths of the garden are the only ways to reach the newly built public transport interchange, bringing a constant flow of visitors. In June 2021, however, the rest garden was removed, leaving only the original banyan trees on site. The rest garden is not only a bystander, witnessing the rise, development and decline of Kwun Tong’s town centre but also a protagonist, soon to be perished for urban renewal.