ENG-1999 — Page 264

LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

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To promote public awareness of the Planning Standards and Guidelines and to facilitate its application by non-government bodies, the document has been uploaded to the Planning Department's web site. It is also available for sale to the public on a chapter-by-chapter basis.

Study on Sustainable Development for the 21st Century

The study is being carried out in response to the concerns on Hong Kong's long-term sustainability if it were to follow the existing development paths. It began in September 1997 and will be completed in mid-2000. It will produce a development management tool, called a sustainable development system, to help the Government evaluate and monitor in a more systematic manner the economic, social and environmental parameters that are relevant to the overall sustainability of Hong Kong's development.

After the first stage of public consultation, which was completed in June 1998, work continued on defining sustainable development for Hong Kong, developing guiding principles and sustainability indicators, devising a sustainable development system which included a computer-aided decision support tool, and proposing an appropriate implementation mechanism. This has been completed. The second stage of public consultation, which started in October and will be completed in February 2000, intends to obtain the public's views on the key findings of the study and to build consensus on various sustainability issues.

Territorial Development Strategy

The Territorial Development Strategy (TDS) is the highest tier in the hierarchy of town planning in Hong Kong. It provides a broad land use, transport and environmental framework for planning and development. It also serves as a basis for preparation of sub-regional planning statements and more detailed district plans.

The last review of the TDS was completed in 1996 and the recommended strategy endorsed by the Chief Executive in Council in February 1998. Since then, some socio- economic assumptions underlying the review have become outdated, some components of the recommended strategies proved to be not favoured by the public and some new factors having strategic planning implications emerged. All of these pointed to the need for a new round of review.

This new round of reviewing the TDS formally commenced in November. The aim is to formulate an up-to-date development strategy covering a period of 30 years, to be known as 'Hong Kong 2030: Vision and Development Strategy'. To enhance public awareness and to build community consensus, the public will be extensively consulted throughout the process of the preparation of the updated development strategy. The review process is expected to be completed in late-2001.

Sub-regional Development Strategies

These strategies serve as a bridge between the TDS and district plans. They translate long-term, broad-brush territorial visions and themes into district planning objectives for the five sub-regions of Hong Kong: the Metro area, North-East New Territories (NENT), South-East New Territories (SENT), North-West New Territories (NWNT) and South-West New Territories (SWNT).