ENG-2014 — Page 234

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Planning, Land and Infrastructure

Land Supply

Overview

Providing land for infrastructure, facilities and development is an important part of the government's work to meet Hong Kong's development needs.

The supply of new developable land through reclamation and site formation and different types of properties has slowed down significantly over the past decade despite the continued growth in population, number of households and Gross Domestic Product.

There is a need to increase land supply to support Hong Kong's sustainable development. The government will continue to adopt a multi-pronged strategy to increase land supply in the short, medium and long term, through the continued and systematic implementation of a series of land supply measures in the following areas:

(a) increase development intensity of developable land: mainly by increasing the development intensity of individual housing sites by up to 20 per cent where planning terms permit, and lifting development restrictions on specific areas where it is considered justified and acceptable to do so;

(b) change of use of existing land and convert reserved sites: mainly by conducting land use reviews of existing land (eg government sites, green belt and industrial land) to identify potential sites suitable for housing and other development needs and initiate change of their uses, and converting to housing use reserved sites with no development plan or for which the original purpose is no longer pursued;

(c) facilitate/expedite development/redevelopment on existing land: mainly by expediting railway property development projects and urban renewal projects, streamlining development processes and introducing new measures such as the Pilot Scheme for Arbitration on Land Premium to facilitate private development/ redevelopment;

(d) take forward major land development projects: mainly by taking forward planning and engineering studies and works for comprehensive development of new development areas and new town extensions, including the conversion of 'brownfield' sites and squatter areas in the rural New Territories for high density development; and

(e) explore new sources of developable land/space: mainly by conducting studies to explore new mode or source of providing developable land/space, including reclamation outside Victoria Harbour.

In the short to medium term, the most immediate and effective way to augment land supply is to make more optimal use of the developed areas in the existing urban areas and new towns, and land in the vicinity of existing infrastructure, through appropriately increasing development intensity of developable land, changing the use of existing land, converting reserved sites, and facilitating and expediting development and redevelopment on existing land, where planning terms permit.

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