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Planning, Land and Infrastructure
• Facilitating and expediting development and redevelopment on existing land - mainly by expediting railway property development and urban renewal, streamlining development processes and implementing measures, such as the Pilot Scheme for Arbitration on Land Premium, to facilitate private development;
• Taking forward major land development projects mainly by taking forward comprehensive development of new development areas (NDAs) and new town extensions, including the conversion of brownfield sites and squatter areas in the rural New Territories for high-density development; and
• Exploring new sources of developable land and space - mainly by conducting studies to explore new modes or sources of providing developable land, including reclamation. outside Victoria Harbour and development of caverns and underground space.
In the short to medium term, the most immediate and effective way to augment land supply is to make more optimal use of developed areas in urban areas and new towns, and land in the vicinity of infrastructure, through increasing development intensity, changing land use and facilitating development where planning terms permit.
In the medium to long term, the government is taking forward land supply projects including the Kwu Tung North and Fanling North NDAs, Tung Chung New Town Extension, Hung Shui Kiu NDA and Yuen Long South development. These involve releasing large tracts of brownfield sites and deserted agricultural land as well as reclamation in environmentally less sensitive waters. The government is also exploring reclamation outside Victoria Harbour, cavern and underground development, as well as the proposed East Lantau Metropolis and New Territories North under Hong Kong 2030+.
In September, the government appointed a Task Force on Land Supply to lead a major public engagement exercise in the first half of 2018 aimed at examining the pros and cons of different land supply options in a thorough and macro manner, to achieve the broadest consensus in the community on the issue of land supply.
Land Use Reviews
To increase land supply, the Planning Department has identified through ongoing land use review in the last few years more than 210 sites with housing development potential in the short to medium term, capable of providing over 310,000 flats in total, 70 per cent of which will be public housing. These comprise 42 sites identified under initiatives announced in the 2013 Policy Address, expected to provide about 40,000 flats, over 60 per cent for public housing; about 150 sites announced in the 2014 Policy Address, to yield over 210,000 flats, over 70 per cent for public housing; and 26 sites announced in the January 2017 Policy Address, to yield over 60,000 flats, over 80 per cent for public housing.
As at end-2017, 104 of the 210-odd sites had been zoned or rezoned for housing, estimated to provide about 75,000 public and 47,900 private housing flats. Statutory rezoning procedures had been initiated for another 41 sites that, subject to completion of the rezoning, are estimated to provide about 69,800 public and 4,300 private housing flats.
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