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Planning, Land and Infrastructure
During the year, 11 residential sites, one commercial site, one commercial/hotel site and eight sites for petrol stations, totalling about 21.1 hectares, were sold for about $135.4 billion. These sites were expected to provide about 7,300 private residential flats and up to 333,800 square metres of gross floor area for commercial or other economic uses.
Lessees of leased land, commonly known as private landowners, may apply to the Lands Department for a lease modification or land exchange so as to, for instance, redevelop the site based on the town plan. The department acts as a private landlord in considering such applications. Approvals are subject to terms and conditions that may include the payment of premiums and administrative fees. In 2019, the department concluded 65 such transactions, involving about 207.1 hectares and about $15.1 billion in land premiums, expected to provide 2,202 private housing flats and up to 123,092 sq m of gross floor area for commercial or other economic uses.
The Pilot Scheme for Arbitration on Land Premium, launched in 2014, seeks to facilitate early agreement on land premiums payable for lease modifications and land exchange transactions. It has been extended until October 2020 while the government continues to explore refinements to the scheme, taking account of stakeholders' views.
Harbourfront Enhancement
The government strives to link up waterfront areas on both sides of Victoria Harbour to provide quality public space for all to enjoy the harbour views. Specifically, it was announced in the 2019-20 Budget that $6 billion would be earmarked for developing new harbourfront promenades and open space, which would lengthen the promenades by 13km to 34km in about 10 years.
During the year, new promenades totalling about 2km were opened while existing promenades were enhanced. These promenades are located in Kennedy Town, Sai Ying Pun, Wan Chai, North Point, Aldrich Bay, West Kowloon and Tsuen Wan. The longest continuous stretch along Victoria Harbour by far, spanning about 4.5km, was connected from Shek Tong Tsui to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai in October.
The government conducted stage 3 of a community engagement exercise on a boardwalk underneath the Island Eastern Corridor, and received general agreement from stakeholders on the proposed alignment and width and supporting facilities. An urban design study for the Wan Chai North and North Point harbourfront areas also ended, with interesting enhancement proposals put forth for a 3.8km harbourfront comprising 15 hectares of parkland and 22 hectares of water space.
Kowloon East
Kowloon East covers the Kai Tak Development Area and the Kwun Tong and Kowloon Bay business areas, and is being transformed into CBD2. It has the potential to provide about 4.2 million sq m of commercial and office floor space in addition to its existing supply of over 2.8 million sq m.
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