ENG-2017 — Page 245

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Planning, Land and Infrastructure

transport connectivity between the urban areas, Lantau and the western New Territories, and strengthen transport links between the traditional CBD and the Pearl River Delta east and west, making the East Lantau Metropolis a new platform with potential for development.

New Territories North

In developing the New Territories North, comprehensive planning and more efficient use of brownfield sites and abandoned agricultural land would be employed to provide land for new communities, modern industries and industries preferring a boundary location, while improving the living environment of the area. Three potential development areas, namely the San Tin/Lok Ma Chau Development Node, the Man Kam To Logistics Corridor and a new town in Heung Yuen Wai/Ping Che/Ta Kwu Ling/Hung Lung Hang/Queen's Hill, have been identified. Strategically, the growth area provides space to develop economic and employment nodes. outside the Metropolitan Business Core and redresses the home-job imbalance of the territory. Spatially, it leverages the strategic transport infrastructure serving and being improved for the area and its proximity with Shenzhen to capture economic opportunities for Hong Kong. The land use recommendations were included in the Hong Kong 2030+ public engagement exercise.

Land Use Strategy

Hong Kong 2030+ advocates a capacity-creating approach to generate both development and environmental capacity. Land with high ecological, landscape or historical value will be preserved, while degraded areas, the fringes of built-up areas and the two Strategic Growth Areas could be considered for development. Five broad measures are proposed: optimisation, such as upzoning and rezoning sites for development; swopping, such as freeing up land by relocating land uses not requiring prime locations and releasing land with low value in conservation and public enjoyment for other uses; innovation, such as exploring the idea of rock caverns; creation, such as reclaiming waters with low ecological and environmental value outside the harbour; and life-cycle planning, such as prudent planning of beneficial after-use of quarries, landfill sites and other temporary premises.

Land Supply

Providing land for housing, infrastructure, community facilities and other needs is an important part of the government's work in pursuing sustainable development. The government increases land supply in the short, medium and long term by:

• Increasing development intensity of developable land mainly by raising the development intensity of individual housing sites by up to 20 per cent where planning terms permit;

• Changing land use and converting reserved sites mainly by conducting land use reviews of existing land, such as government sites, reserved sites with no development. plans or for which the original purpose is no longer pursued, and green belt, to identify potential sites suitable for housing and other development needs and to initiate change. of their uses where planning terms permit;

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