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Written: New Direction HK
2021-04-10 18:41
Last update date: 2021-04-11 12:41
The "Super Funeral City" located in Shaling, only a few hundred meters away from Shenzhen Luohu, has become the nearest hot topic in the city.
Some members of the Legislative Council criticized the Hong Kong government for "disobeying public opinion and going its own way." They believed that the construction of a "super funeral city" here would arouse dissatisfaction among Shenzhen residents and affect the relationship between the two places, and that Shaling is so close to the border of Shenzhen and Hong Kong that it can be discovered more. Uses with economic value.
At the same time, the Chief Executive said in response to this question that the construction of columbarium and other facilities is necessary for the people's livelihood and cannot be stopped rashly because of the Greater Bay Area.
Location map of Sha Sha Ling Cemetery and its extension:
Regarding the site selection for this "Super Funeral City", it has been more than ten years from policy review to approval by the Legislative Council to today. Past discussions in the Legislative Council show that for many years, neither the government nor the Legislative Council has followed the overall strategy of the Greater Bay Area. Industrial planning is adjusted to consider whether the site selection is appropriate, and the project’s public consultation and environmental impact assessment (EIA) process have never considered the impact on Luohu on the opposite bank of the Shenzhen River.
Even after the State Council formally put forward the guiding opinions on “creating the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and building a world-class city cluster” in 2016, the current plan for the expansion of Shaling still received 41 votes in favor and 1 vote against it by the Finance Committee in 2017. It passed with a high number of votes, and those who voted for it at that time included several members who are now strongly opposed to it.
The left side of the picture is the "Super Funeral City" in Shaling, and the right side is the Luohu District of Shenzhen.
(Photo by Sun Shengran)
Hong Kong has never been short of slogan opposition. What it lacks is more constructive and forward-looking discussions when formulating policies.
As a key link in the overall strategy of the Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong itself has unique advantages and can make good use of the opportunities brought by the Greater Bay Area.
But on the contrary, if there is a lack of overall thinking and a lack of awareness of complementary and coordinated development with neighboring cities, it will retreat if not advancing in the Bay Area, and even affect Hong Kong's status as an international hub.
Regarding the problems, controversies, and even out-of-date parts of the previous project planning, the new direction HK believes that the government should indeed show the courage to seek truth from facts, actively review, make timely corrections, and avoid similar mistakes and omissions in future projects.
Knowing mistakes can make corrections, and good things are great. People are not sages, and no one can fault.
Whether it is the government or legislators, it is the people's blessing to dare to propose amendments to the policy, to dare to review and reflect.
The Chief Executive explained in the recent question-and-answer session of the Legislative Council: "Officials do not have a crystal ball: The (Shaling) project has been planned for at least ten years, and perhaps no one has seen such a big change ten years ago. It is the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao University. The Bay Area will be elevated to the level of national economic planning." What the Chief Executive said is true, but it also reflects the "passivity" of the government and parliament in this matter.
The Greater Bay Area strategy did not appear overnight. The voices of Shenzhen residents were clearly expressed as early as six years ago. In the entire project process for more than ten years, the government and parliament have actually been able to review the planning and invite many times. Stakeholders in Shenzhen coordinated to discuss and adjust project opportunities, but unfortunately, Hong Kong has not been able to take the initiative to seize these opportunities.
It is precisely this kind of "proactive" awareness in the governance mentality that will enable Hong Kong to occupy a favorable position in the future development.
The planning process sequence of the expansion project of Shaling Cemetery:
In fact, apart from the experience and lessons of the expansion of the Shaling Cemetery among the various projects in the Shenzhen-Hong Kong border development, it is not without the cooperation between the two governments and effective cases: the development of the Loop between Hong Kong and Shenzhen is one of the best. example of.
As early as 2007, the Hong Kong-Shenzhen government established a joint task force for the development of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen boundary zone. The chief executive of the Secretary for Development at the time was the Hong Kong team leader of the task force.
Based on the principle of "joint research and joint development", the task force explored the feasibility of developing the Lok Ma Chau Loop and the land use that is beneficial to both Hong Kong and Shenzhen. It also hired academic institutions from the two places to collect public and relevant experts’ opinions on Lok Ma Chau. The opinions on the future development of the Loop will provide the basis for comprehensive research.
And this kind of collaboration model also brought a huge boost to the project planning and later advancement of the Liantang/Xiangyuanwei Port that was conceived at that time.
According to the Hong Kong government's plan for the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border area, large-scale border development plans will continue to come in the future. The Hong Kong government should use more "loop experience" and avoid "sharing detours" in order to "face together and cooperate." With a win-win attitude, we will do a good job in the overall development of the border areas between Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
Future plans for the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border area:
While thinking about re-planning the border areas, we must not forget to speed up the progress of solving people’s livelihood issues.
The laying of the ashes of the deceased is of course an important livelihood issue. For many years, the people of Hong Kong have been troubled by the shortage of columbarium niches.
Over the years, the Food and Health Bureau has identified 24 sites for the development of public columbaria in various parts of Hong Kong. The expansion of the Shaling Cemetery is one of the larger ones. Since 2008, the Hong Kong government has implemented the reduction of land in the frontier closed area. When more border land was liberated, Shaling was planned as a cemetery.
According to the information from the Food and Health Bureau, the completed Shaling Columbarium can house 200,000 columbarium niches. At present, a lot of time and actual financial expenditure have been invested in the project. If the plan is completely overturned, it will still be necessary. How long will it take to find a suitable alternative site to fill the gap of 200,000 niches is also a livelihood issue that has to be considered comprehensively.
The picture shows the "Super Funeral City" of Shaling.
(Photo by Sun Shengran)
Under the current objective circumstances, from the perspective of the engineering profession, it is still completely feasible to introduce mitigation measures to reduce the impact, and it is definitely an urgent task for the Hong Kong Government to implement.
We noticed that the Food and Health Bureau stated on April 9 that it will re-examine the design and relocate the cremation and funeral home facilities in the development to a nearby lower valley, and will green on the ground and roof and vertical greening on the exterior wall of the building. .
However, the new direction HK believes that the Hong Kong government should show greater sincerity and courage, not only for minor repairs, but also for redesigning the overall layout and appearance of the facilities, using innovative and modern architectural design concepts, and remembering the ancestors The facilities are built into a quiet and pure land integrated with the natural environment, so as to avoid leaving a permanent "scar" in the landscape of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border and the core urban area of Shenzhen.
Hong Kong is China's cosmopolitan city, and the people's livelihood and development issues that Hong Kong has to face, internally or externally, are by no means simple.
The Shaling Funeral City incident this time is just an example and a lesson from the many complex problems that Hong Kong faces/will face.
Hong Kong’s governors must have the status of being a big country and a people-oriented mindset in order to break out of the narrow framework of local and sectoral interests, build consensus with wisdom, and balance Hong Kong’s historical baggage and the development of the Greater Bay Area. The changes brought about by the times have brought people's livelihood and economy forward together.
New direction HK
Members come from all corners of the world, including lawyers, engineers, architects, doctors, principals, university professors, teachers, social workers, psychologists, journalists, directors, information experts, accountants, bankers, entrepreneurs, etc.
Although the growth experience is different, they all have a true love of Hong Kong's home and country, and the spirit of working hard to make changes by seeking truth from facts.
Committed to advocating a promising government, breaking the capital monopoly, rebuilding sincere exchanges and mutual benefit between Hong Kong and the Mainland, and finding a new direction for Hong Kong.
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