Youth Empowerment
Swire Properties Placemaking Academy 2025
Swire Properties Placemaking Academy 2025
Launched in 2019, the Swire Properties Placemaking Academy (“SPPA”) is an integral part of our ongoing commitment to nurturing Hong Kong’s youth. Each year, participants are shortlisted through an open competition for local university students. Those selected take part in a six-month apprenticeship to brainstorm, plan and execute our signature community event: December’s White Christmas Street Fair.
This year, the SPPA selected 10 students from across Hong Kong. During their apprenticeship, they gained valuable skills and knowledge that dovetailed with the Company’s long-term goals in the areas of placemaking, innovation and sustainable development. They also took part in master classes and were given mentoring and on-the-job training by the Swire Properties’ senior management and the SPPA’s star lecturers.
The Placemaking Academy Junior Programme for secondary school students, a collaboration between the SPPA and the Eastern District Office’s E-League Programme, returned for a third year, with five secondary school students from Eastern District trained by industry experts to be emcees at the street fair.
Social Impact Measurement Study
To enhance our understanding of the social value generated by the SPPA programme in 2025, we conducted an impact study in collaboration with Fullness Social Venture. The research team adopted a mixed-method approach, and collected data and feedback through surveys, individual interviews, group discussions and sit-in observations.
The study utilised three key models for evaluating social impact: (1) the micro-meso-macro model, which examines SPPA’s impact at various societal levels; (2) the Theory of Change (ToC) model, which traces the programme's impact creation from input to output, outcome and long-term goals; and (3) the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) model, which assesses changes in participants' skills, perceptions, and behaviours.
Quotes from SPPA 2025 participants:
“Previously I learnt that placemaking means ‘turning space to place’. Now I think placemaking means ‘ownership’, developing a sense of belonging. A place needs ‘common ideas and memories’. ‘Community’ means the most for placemaking. People are the most important. AI cannot do placemaking for us.”
“During the programme I came here to work every day, and I walked everywhere in the neighbourhood. I became familiar with this place, and have shared memories and feelings about this place. This, to me, is placemaking.”
Over the years, SPPA has now nurtured 70 young talents. Adding the monetised value of SPPA 2025 to the estimation of SPPA 2019-2024 by the University of Hong Kong, the SPPA programme has created a social value of over HKD68 million for programme participants and the wider community since 2019. These study outcomes will guide us in developing an appropriate strategy for enhancing the social impact of our community engagement initiatives.
White Christmas Street Fair 2025
White Christmas Street Fair 2025
Swire Properties’ annual White Christmas Street Fair returned to Taikoo Place from 11 to 14 December 2025. Designed and created by 10 local university students from Swire Properties Placemaking Academy’s 2025 cohort, the fair was inspired by Hong Kong’s iconic neon lights with a theme reflecting creativity, resilience and empathy: “Colour the Season – LIGHTS OF HOPE.” The students reimagined the event after the Tai Po fire tragedy of late November, transforming its vibrant colours into symbols of hope and solidarity for the community.
This year’s fair was dedicated to supporting those affected by the Tai Po tragedy. The fair’s opening night was made into an Evening of Hope and Remembrance, emceed by the secondary school students from the Placemaking Academy Junior Programme. The event honoured the care and close connections that unite our community in the face of tragedy. A dedicated origami booth gathered blessings for Tai Po.
Proceeds from the on-site activities and a portion of the retail and F&B sales were donated to Operation Santa Claus as usual. When added to the money raised through the “Santa Express”, part of Pacific Place’s “Ticket to Christmas” campaign, the total raised reached over HKD840,000.
Swire Properties also matched every dollar raised at the White Christmas Street Fair to support Tai Po relief efforts. Together with more than HKD935,000 collected through the Staff Donation Matching Scheme, the Company donated HKD1.34 million to Sheng Kung Hui Act of Love 1126 Fire Disaster Support Fund and St. James’ Settlement for Tai Po relief efforts.
Hong Kong Palace Museum’s Fourth Bi-City Youth Culture Leadership Programme
Hong Kong Palace Museum’s Fourth Bi-City Youth Culture Leadership Programme
In 2022, the Hong Kong Palace Museum launched the Bi-city Youth Cultural Leadership Programme, a flagship youth learning initiative designed to promote Chinese culture and foster cultural exchange, with Swire Properties as the lead sponsor. The programme has seen enthusiastic participation from university students – igniting their creativity, broadening their horizons and nurturing the next generation of cultural talent. The programme is supported by the Palace Museum in Beijing and the Office of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing.
The theme of the programme’s fourth edition was “The Vision of Youth for the Future of Cultural Districts”, offering a global perspective on trends in the development of cultural districts, using the West Kowloon Cultural District as a core case study. Sixteen university students, eight each from Beijing and Hong Kong, came together for a two-month exchange programme featuring field trips to Swire Properties’ developments, master classes and internships in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai – a newly added study destination this year.
Since its launch, the programme has engaged nearly 150 university students. Some alumni have gone on to pursue careers in culture, arts, technology, and education. Notably, several Beijing alumni have expressed a strong desire to relocate to Hong Kong through the top talent programme, contributing to the local arts and cultural community.
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