Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning

Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030 Response

April 2017

Table of contents

1. Objectives

2. Our views on existing challenges

3. Our recommendations

4. Conclusion

1. Objectives

RICS, as a global professional body working across land, real estate,

construction and infrastructure:

► Has a public interest mandate to engage Hong Kong Government and

industry leaders on this plan

► Agrees to the planning challenges and proposals outlined in Hong Kong

Government’s territorial development plan beyond 2030

RICS would like to highlight some of the important factors that need to

be addressed in more detail and offer alternative thoughts on the future

planning strategies to the Government for consideration.

2. Our views on existing challenges

The changing nature of Hong Kong’s development needs

► The changing regional competitive landscape

New and emerging industries may develop very quickly

Need adequate and flexible land resources to promote economic diversity

► The changing workplace

Smart workplace strategies and technologies will change the overall demand of

floor space

Difficult to estimate the commercial land supply required in the future

► The changing demographics

Need an adaptable and flexible planning framework to facilitate the change of uses

in the future

3. Our recommendations

Key elements to transform Hong Kong into a liveable city

Faster urban renewal redevelopment

Review overall housing market structure

Planning for community needs

3. Our recommendations

► Ageing building stock in Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok, Shum Shui Po and Cheung

Sha Wan as well as Kowloon City and To Kwa Wan

► Need to ensure that these ageing buildings do not pose a serious safety hazard for

the public

► Provide a potential opportunity for new supply of developable sites in urban areas

of Kowloon

Urban renewal needs

Existing challenges on urban renewal

► A significant gap exists between this vision and the current administration on

planning regulations, land policies and building controls

3. Our recommendations

Recommendations on urban renewal

► Urgent need for a holistic and integrated review of current regulations on

planning, land policies and building controls, such as allowing building forms to

go vertically, reducing the building footprint ratio and freeing up ground area for

public use and incorporate district-specific guidelines for land use and planning

controls into local area plans

► Adopt a flexible approach to permit interchangeability of land usage to enable more

innovative building concepts amid an evolving economic environment

Faster urban renewal redevelopment

A step towards making Hong Kong a more liveable and sustainable city

3. Our recommendations

► Housing affordability is a critical issue in Hong Kong

► The supply-demand imbalance is perceived to be one of the main causes.

► The shortfall in development land and hence residential supply has come at a time

of surging end-user and investment demands from Hong Kong and overseas

► To improve housing affordability and promote home ownership, which is seen as

effective measures to maintain social stability

► We recommend the Government to conduct a comprehensive review of Hong

Kong’s overall housing market structure, particularly the subsidized housing

schemes.

Existing challenges on housing market

Conduct a comprehensive review of

Hong Kong’s overall housing market structure

3. Our recommendations

► Incorporate demographic assessments to accommodate community

needs

How buildings and social amenities are designed and built to cater for

the needs of different groups of the population, including the young

and old

► Incorporate smart city concepts and utilise data science and

technology

Utilising data science and technology can help facilitating better

allocation of public resources

Planning for community needs

3. Our recommendations

► Strengthen our status as a key hub for

the Southern China region

► East Lantau, together with Kau Yi Chau,

are being located in the centre of and

with the significant improvements to its

connectivity to the Greater Pearl River

Delta

► Existing nine container ports in Kwai

Chung and Tsing Yi have a total site

area of approximately 270 hectares.

Their government leases will expire by

30 June 2047

Advocating for a new logistic hub at East Lantau

Photo: HK2030+ PE Booklet

3. Our recommendations

RICS suggests creating a logistics hub at the East Lantau reclamation,

rather than turning it to become Hong Kong’s third CBD

► Same as what Hong Kong Government proposed back in the 1990s

Advantages:

► Offers an opportunity to upgrade our container port facilities with the latest

technology, enhance its efficiency and capacity to meet future competition

► Land adjacent could be reserved for logistics-related facilities to support the air

and sea freight.

► Transform the Greater Lantau area into a world-class logistics hub

► Redevelop exising ports at Kwai Chung/Tsing Yi area to be CBD3

3. Our recommendations

Global case: Phases 3 and 4 of Pasir Panjang Terminal at Singapore

Photo: PSA Singapore

► Both Singapore and Hong Kong aim to

transform their logistics sector and retain

their position as a global logistics hub

► Hong Kong needs to maintain and further

enhance its logistics competitiveness, or

it may risk losing to neighbouring cities

adding extra 15 berths to her existing facilities

JTC’s Logistics Hub @ Gul, a new logistics hub, is scheduled for completion in 2020

3. Our recommendations

► A more certain and transparent future land supply list will facilitate better business,

economic and investment planning

► Review the land exchange and lease modification assessment mechanism to unlock

the development potential of agricultural land, and incentivise developers to make use

of their land holdings for new developments

Making land-supply schedule more transparent and promote rural land conversions

4. Conclusion

The Government should look at Hong Kong as part of a larger regional

economy, and facilitate the development of a built environment capable of

capitalising on the opportunities in the Greater Pearl River Delta, as well as

the potential arising from the Belt and Road Initiative

Should adopt a more innovative approach towards introducing the

regulatory reform of town planning, land use, building control and urban

renewal

.

Should adopt a more flexible approach towards town planning, land use

and building control as well as the urban renewal policies

Q&A