Last month, I represented Hong Kong at the 10th Ministers’ Forum on Infrastructure Development in the Asia-Pacific Region in Singapore. At the forum, ministers and senior officials from member countries and places across the Asia-Pacific region held discussions and shared views and experiences on the strategies and policies of infrastructure development. The theme of this year’s forum was “Infrastructure for Sustainable Development: Creating Liveable Communities”.
As we all know, Hong Kong has a shortage of developable land. Like other international cities, in deploying resources to increase our land supply we also have to deal with ever-worsening extreme weather. As such, it is an enormous challenge for us to develop Hong Kong into a liveable city capable of sustainable development.
Increasing land supply with a multi-pronged approach
We have taken a multi-pronged approach to develop land, such as reviewing the various land use zones, promoting new development areas and expanding the existing new towns, carrying out urban redevelopment and reclamation outside Victoria Harbour, utilising rock caverns and underground spaces, and increasing the development density moderately. However, the implementation of all of the above measures does not necessarily mean that our future living environment will be less pleasant. To develop Hong Kong, a city with a high development density, into a highly efficient, practical and liveable smart city, we have to keep enhancing our comprehensive planning in four areas, namely urban development and nature preservation, utilising land resources and transport planning, balanced distribution of population and job opportunities, and smart design and development management.
Nature preservation and air quality
While developing land to resolve the shortage in supply, we have to strike a balance carefully to preserve our natural environment. At present, around a quarter of land in Hong Kong is developed, while another 40 per cent is country parks and the rest is Green Belts and agricultural land. Our planning vision for the future will continue to see 90 per cent of the population living in areas within a 3-kilometre distance from a country park. Apart from formulating the Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan to maintain an ecological equilibrium, the Government is also striving to improve air quality with a four-pronged approach, namely improving roadside air quality, reducing marine emissions, reviewing the fuel mix for power generation and regulating non-road mobile machinery, so as to implement “A Clean Air Plan for Hong Kong” and achieve the new Air Quality Objectives in 2020. Regarding urban planning and design, we will continue to carry out a comprehensive air ventilation assessment to ensure good air ventilation in the development of high-density projects.
Victoria Harbour and heritage conservation
Victoria Harbour is one of Hong Kong’s precious natural resources. We value and treasure this asset that belongs to us all. As such, we have strived to turn the promenades on both sides of Victoria Harbour into attractive and vibrant areas for the enjoyment of the public and visitors from around the world. We will also enhance the conservation of historic buildings and monuments and roll out revitalisation projects, not only to showcase the unique value of historic buildings and monuments, but also to enhance the cultural atmosphere of our city and our quality of life.
Transport infrastructure and urban planning
Given the land constraints, we have to develop a high-density, walkable, low-carbon, smart and intelligent city, which necessitates comprehensive transport planning. Railways are an environmentally friendly, efficient and cost-effective means of public transport. Thanks to the development over the past decades, 42 per cent of our residential areas and 75 per cent of the commercial areas are now located within a 500-metre walking distance from a railway station. In future, we will continue with our urban planning in accordance with this transport planning principle of high density and high efficiency, and continue to rely on railways as the core of our transport infrastructure development.
Living and employment
In developing an intelligent city, we also have to consider the balanced distribution of population and job opportunities. Mixed land uses enable people to live and work in the same area, thus avoiding an imbalance between population and employment. Vertical development from underground spaces, with a mixture of land uses, can provide residential, commercial and leisure facilities, while horizontal development can connect various places through pedestrian-friendly facilities. Our urban planning aims at achieving high-density development with walkability. Meanwhile, we are striving to improve the environment by increasing green spaces, reducing carbon emissions and setting other targets.
To achieve smart urban building, we have to explore the innovative application of technologies, such as using advanced waste-to-energy technology to treat waste produced in the community and generate energy for use in the local area, and building an interactive information platform to facilitate communication and the sharing of data so as to improve urban management and efficiency, provide quality public services and improve the quality of life.
Contingency and risk management
A sustainable and liveable city has to be a safe city. While Hong Kong is one of the safest cities in the world, it is still under the constant threat of natural disasters and inclement weather. Therefore, we have to strengthen our infrastructure to cope with disasters, stay alert and put in place a contingency plan for vigorous enforcement. Infrastructure is one of our assets, and thus should be well managed and maintained to address any risks posed by severe weather. In addition, we have to take risk management measures and set up a sound management system for better preparedness and response.
For a good urban development to succeed, public support and involvement is indispensable. We have to achieve a balance among economic development, environment conservation and public expectations, so that social consensus can be reached. However, building social consensus is a common challenge faced by Hong Kong and other places in the world. We will continue to engage and communicate with the public and explain our work for Hong Kong’s future development planning in a pragmatic way.
13 July, 2014
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