Hong Kong must improve urban management to better handle disasters: John Lee

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has pledged to improve Hong Kong’s urban management to better handle natural disasters and public complaints, while attending a town hall meeting to gather feedback for the city’s first five-year plan and his fifth annual policy address. The city leader said on Sunday that the two blueprints would leverage Hong Kong’s strengths as an international centre for finance, shipping, trade and innovation and technology, as well as a global hub for high-calibre talent, to drive economic growth. He also described the first simultaneous consultation on the two documents as “especially meaningful” and vowed to consider residents’ views. Lee met more than 130 residents at South Tuen Mun Government Secondary School in Tuen Mun. The session, attended by all ministers, was the first town hall meeting held as part of a public consultation exercise launched in June to solicit residents’ opinions for the two documents. Only residents and district representatives selected by the government were invited to the event. In his concluding remarks, Lee highlighted the importance of improving the city’s urban management. “Whether it is the development of new urban areas or the redevelopment of old districts, we often face challenges such as extreme weather and different types of disasters. It is important to unite government and community efforts in handling these issues,” he said. “I believe we need to upgrade our [urban management] systems, including how we handle public complaints, to make district governance more effective. We must also integrate different fields in a systematic way, such as drainage systems, emergency response and even daily traffic management.” Lee added that this approach would enable the government to use technology to better understand current, medium- and long-term challenges in urban management. His remarks came as lawmakers called on authorities to revamp the 1823 public complaint hotline using Beijing’s one-stop, artificial intelligence-assisted 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Centre as a benchmark, following their study trip to the capital last month. Residents raised a range of suggestions during the two-hour forum, covering housing, healthcare, social welfare and support for ethnic minority communities. But the city’s economy and technological advancement emerged as the most common topics. A businessman expressed concern about the high threshold for local small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to establish a presence in the Northern Metropolis, worrying that the district-based development model could be dominated by large conglomerates. He urged the government to require successful bidders to set aside space for SMEs and to improve coordination within the business community. A young entrepreneur said start-ups lacked policy support beyond the seed-funding stage and called for more dedicated measures, including a matching fund to attract international venture capital. A university student highlighted rising unemployment among graduates and the dwindling number of junior positions in the innovation and technology sector. He proposed introducing targeted on-the-job training subsidies and greater regulatory flexibility for single-person companies to encourage young people to start businesses. Lee responded that the primary goal of technological development was to foster high-quality industries and create more well-paid jobs, adding that the government was seeking to develop cutting-edge technologies in quantum technology and aerospace. “We will offer programmes to enhance residents’ skills, but the most important thing is to upgrade our industries and provide more quality jobs,” he said. The city leader promised that SMEs would have a place in the development of the Northern Metropolis, adding that the government would support their transformation amid technological advances. Lee noted that the 30,000-hectare (74,132-acre) megaproject, including a proposed university town, would play a crucial role in the overall upgrading and transformation of Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s first five-year plan aims to better align the city’s development with the national 15th five-year blueprint, which guides the country’s development from 2026 to 2030. It will outline the city’s vision for the Northern Metropolis, the advancement of innovation and technology, and the development of finance, shipping and trade. Lee said his annual policy address would serve as a progress report on Hong Kong’s five-year plan, adding that the latter would provide direction and strategic guidance for the city’s future development. All officials and attendees first took part in a one-hour forum, during which residents raised questions and offered suggestions. They were then divided into groups for more in-depth exchanges, with the city leader joining each group briefly. At the forum, a resident urged the government to open more border crossings to vehicles under the Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles scheme to strengthen the city’s connections with mainland China. Under the current scheme, eligible private car owners can only drive to Guangdong via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. Without directly addressing the resident’s request, Lee stressed that integration with the Greater Bay Area would be crucial for Hong Kong’s future development, saying it was a key driver of the city’s growth. Another resident pressed authorities to create better pathways for ethnically diverse professionals to enter mainstream healthcare and social services. “I treat every one of the 7.5 million [residents] as members in this big family of Hong Kong,” Lee said. “We will all do our best to ensure that the best development and contribution can be made for different ethnicities.” A teacher also proposed that the government clamp down on campus bullying by introducing targeted laws, drawing on the mainland practice of allowing police to intervene. But Lee dismissed the suggestion, saying it would be better to influence students through a healthy environment, giving adolescents a chance to mend their ways, rather than adopt a heavy-handed approach. The two-month public consultation will conclude on August 14. Lee earlier pledged to deliver the five-year plan in the third quarter of the year. Since the launch of the consultation in June, the government has held more than 80 in-person and online sessions to gather feedback from various sectors. Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Janice Tse Siu-wa said earlier that the government had already received 2,500 submissions regarding the five-year plan, with nearly half focusing on livelihood issues. The first town hall meeting was originally scheduled for July 26 but was postponed due to Typhoon Noul. A second district session is expected to be held next Sunday.

Hong Kong must improve urban management to better handle disasters: John Lee

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}City leader and ministers meet more than 130 residents at town hall to gather feedback for first five-year plan and coming policy address

City leader and ministers meet more than 130 residents at town hall to gather feedback for first five-year plan and coming policy address