Concrete Analysis | Shortage of land in Hong Kong? Not if what there is already were utilised smartly
Columnist Nicholas Brooke argues that land is underutilised, such as military land, brownfield/storage sites and agricultural land held by private developers.
Earlier this year, the government’s Task Force on Land Supply put forward 18 proposed short to long term land supply possibilities together with several conceptual options for public discussion and comment, with responses due on September 26.
In my view, none of the 18 proposals deliver what most Hong Kong residents would consider to be “short term” solutions, as they are looking for positive change within the next 12 -24 months (albeit this expectation may not be realistic for permanent solutions).
New probably temporary and transitional solutions should therefore be put forward to complement the final Task Force Report to mitigate public concerns and demonstrate the government’s serious commitment to resolving the long-standing challenge of delivering adequate developable land for the city’s future needs. And these should include a much more serious approach to the option of pre-fabrication and waivers to permit development to proceed without facing the prescriptive system of land use conversion.
It is also my view that there is no real shortage of land in Hong Kong. Rather, much of what land there is (including village land, underutilised military land, brownfield/storage sites, agricultural land held by private developers, etc) is for various reasons either underutilised or otherwise not easily developable – some for geotechnical challenges, some due to outdated planning, some because government is reluctant to address ownership and land tenure difficulties.
None of these factors are easy to resolve but they are impacting adversely on the lives of many Hong Kong residents and limiting Hong Kong’s growth and competitiveness.