Hong Kong can only rely on reclamation to solve the land problem?

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Written by: Commentary Editing Room

2021-03-06 08:00

Last update date: 2021-03-06 08:00

The Unity Hong Kong Fund held a forum on Thursday (4th). During the meeting, the Secretary for Development, Wong Wai-lun, said that Hong Kong can only rely on reclamation to increase land supply, and pointed out that other methods are just a game of "left hand to right".

Although this view is not completely wrong, the development constraints of Hong Kong are not due to lack of land. It is because the authorities are unwilling to shake the land held by vested interests. Only reclamation remains the distant water that cannot save the near fire.

Secretary for Development Wong Wai Lun.

(Profile picture)

The Solidarity Hong Kong Foundation held a seminar on "Reclamation Decryption, Solving Hong Kong's Urgency" on Thursday. The Secretary for Development, Wong Wai Lun, was invited as a special guest.

In his speech, Huang Weilun mentioned the "three basic government views" of reclamation-the first is "reclamation is the only new source of land", all other methods are "rob people to pay poor", " The game of "left hand to right" will not increase the total amount of land; the second is "appropriate reclamation", that is, after the completion of the reclamation project that the government is preparing, the land obtained from reclamation will account for approximately 8.5% of the total area of ​​Hong Kong, which is higher than Macau and Singapore Is low; in the end, development and conservation are "parallel."

From the perspective of land supply, Huang Weilun believes that only reclamation can increase the total amount is not wrong, but the reclamation project will take ten or eight years before it can be accomplished. It is whether the existing land is used to the fullest, lest the government can only find the residential and commercial land needed for future development from reclamation.

Carrie Lam proposed the vision of "Lantau Tomorrow" in the 2018 Policy Address. Although the authorities believe that the project can provide Hong Kong with a large area of ​​land and create huge social and economic benefits, the first phase of reclamation is expected to start in 2025. It will not be expected to welcome the first migration of residents until 2032.

In addition, the Chief Executive proposed a plan to develop Tuen Mun Lung Kwu Tan and Tuen Mun West Coast in 2020, but the plan is still in the early stage of research, and the completion date is far away.

Even if the two projects can bring hundreds of thousands of homes to Hong Kong in the long run, they are only a means to quench their thirst.

But is there currently no land available in Hong Kong?

According to a report issued by Bank of America Merrill Lynch in 2019, the four major developers in Hong Kong-Henderson Land, SHKP, New World and Cheung Kong-currently have more than 100 million square feet of agricultural land. Among them, Henderson has the most abundant agricultural land reserves and they all own Approximately 45 million square feet of farmland.

However, developers have been hoarding land for many years, and the government has left such precious land resources idle and ignored the demands of the people to use the "Land Resumption Ordinance" to develop agricultural land. Therefore, it can be regarded as the initiator of the deep-seated housing problem.

Brownfield development is also another issue that the government dare not touch.

According to the government’s brownfield potential study, out of the 160 hectares of "brownfields" with high development potential, only 25 hectares have been planned for housing development or other supporting facilities and 36 hectares are judged to be more suitable for the development of public housing. The rest of the land considered as restricted will not be more difficult to construct than reclamation from scratch.

The government’s attitude that it is not eager to develop "brownfields" can also be seen in the analysis of "brownfields" with medium development potential that should have been completed by the end of last year. The results of the analysis of "brownfields" with medium development potential have not yet been explained. There is no mention of development plans and land resumption plans for "brownfields".

The "01 View" has repeatedly pointed out that the development difficulties of Hong Kong are not due to insufficient land "total amount", but the government's unwillingness to shake the existing land interest structure.

As can be seen from the controversy over the Fanling Golf Course, after the land debate, the Hong Kong Government has vowed to fully accept the recommendations of the task force and is willing to take back part of the golf course for housing construction.

But before the voice was heard, the government proposed a "special transitional arrangement" to renew the 32 hectares of land planned for the construction of public housing to the club for three years. It can be seen that officials seem to think that the right of club members to play is far better than improving the Hong Kong people. The living environment is more important.

Therefore, it is not that Hong Kong has to reclaim land when there is no land available, but the government is afraid that only those with vested interests will be left with reclamation.

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