MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1983
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+ANOTHER MAJOR FIELD FOR STUDY HAS BEEN THE POTENTIAL SUPPLY OF LAND, MR CHAN SAID.
+WHAT WE HAVE DONE, WITH THE AID OF CONSULTANTS OF INTERNATIONAL STANDING IS TO EXHAUST THE SEARCH FOR POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR URBAN GROWTH VIRTUALLY THROUGHOUT THE LENGTH AND BREADTH OF THE TERRITORY.
STUDIES SHOW THAT THERE ARE NUMEROUS OPTIONS OPEN TO US, VARYING IN CAPACITY FROM ABOUT 100 000 TO 700 000 PEOPLE.
+IN AGGREGATE THEY PRESENT A HYPOTHETICAL TOTAL CAPACITY OF ABOUT 3 MILLION PEOPLE. TO MEET, IF YOU REMEMBER FROM WHAT I SAID EARLIER ABOUT DEMAND, A REQUIREMENT IN THE 1990'S OF ONLY ABOUT 870 000 PEOPLE. SO, THEREFORE, WE HAVE A PROBLEM, NOT OF FINDING A SOLUTION BUT OF CHOOSING ONE FROM A CONSIDERABLE RANGE OF OPTIONS.
INITIAL INDICATIONS WERE THAT OUR BASIC CHOICES COULD BE BETWEEN A HARBOUR-ORIENTED STRATEGY, WHICH SOUGHT TO CONSOLIDATE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT AROUND THE HISTORICAL HEART OF HONG KONG, AND ONE WHICH CONTINUED THE DECENTRALISATION PROCESS WHICH HAD BEEN THE BASIS OF OUR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES THROUGHOUT MOST OF THE 1970'S AND THE 1980'S.
A MIDDLE COURSE BETWEEN THE TWO EXTREME APPROACHES SEEMED A LESS LIKELY OUTCOME AT PRESENT.
+ IT IS BECOMING CLEAR, HOWEVER, THAT IT WOULD BE PRUDENT IF WE WERE TO BUILD INTO OUR STRATEGY THE FLEXIBILITY TO ENABLE US TO SWITCH FROM AN INITIAL APPROACH IN FAVOUR OF KEEPING THE AIRPORT AT KAI TAK TO ONE WHICH ALLOWS FOR ITS RELOCATION, CONTINUED.
MR CHAN
+WE MUST ALSO KEEP IN MIND THE NEED TO ENHANCE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE PORT. THE PROCESS OF LONG TERM DEVELOPMENT PLANNING MUST INEVITABLY HAVE REGARD TO THE EXTENT TO WHICH RESOURCES ARE LIKELY TO BE AVAILABLE TO IMPLEMENT A CHOSEN STRATEGY.
THERE WOULD BE LITTLE POINT IN PRODUCING PLANS WE CANNOT AFFORD TO PUT INTO EFFECT. GIVEN THE CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE TO WHICH I HAVE ALREADY REFERRED, PRESENT INDICATIONS ARE THAT WE WILL HAVE THE RESOURCES TO MEET OUR PREDICTED NEEDS FOR URBAN GROWTH AND INFRASTRUCTURAL REQUIREMENTS.
+BY THIS TIME NEXT YEAR OUR STUDY PROCESS WILL HAVE REACHED A POINT AT WHICH THE DIRECTION OF THE BROAD THRUST OF DEVELOPMENT IN HONG KONG HAS BEEN DECIDED, ADJUSTMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO OUR PROGRAMMES FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE 1980'S TO ACKNOWLEDGE THIS AND INITIAL OUTLINES OF OUR PROGRAMMES FOR THE EARLY 1990'S HAVE BEEN PRODUCED.+
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