Welcome Message from the Secretary for Development

Welcome To the Homepage of the Development Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Hong Kong’s land area, mountainous terrain, Victoria Harbour and surrounding waterbody are the precious assets of our city.   Making the best use of these limited resources to meet the wide-ranging needs of our community, amidst fast-changing global competition and regional development, is a huge challenge.  We need to provide not only home, workplace and service space for our 7.3 million, and still growing, population, as well as to maintain Hong Kong’s leading edge as a financial and business centre both globally and within the region, but also to treasure our natural and built heritage as the home to diverse species and back-garden for public enjoyment.

The growth of our city must be able to effectively respond to the needs of our community and in line with the principle of sustainable development.  To meet the needs of the community and enhance Hong Kong’s position as a competitive cosmopolitan city in Asia, the government will continue to make timely investment in building new infrastructure and improving existing provisions.  The government is also committed to enriching the city’s living environment through effective land use planning, urban renewal, greening and heritage conservation.  The Development Bureau is the policy bureau responsible for championing this agenda for our city’s development.  Our work consists broadly of two main areas: planning, land and building development; and infrastructure development.

Planning, Land and Building Development

The Planning and Lands Branch of the Development Bureau is responsible for policies governing planning, development, land use and supply, land administration, land registration, urban renewal and building safety.  We aim to facilitate Hong Kong’s development through effective planning, supply and use of land, an efficient land administration and registration framework, a rigorous building safety regime, and responsive urban renewal process.

The “Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030” (Hong Kong 2030+) sets out the Government’s vision for sustainable development of our compact high-density city into a more liveable one over the decades to come.  Through territorial strategic planning and area-based land-use planning, we strive to optimise the investment in the utilisation of land and infrastructure development.  We also strive to provide sufficient land and space to meet the housing, community and economic development needs of our society through the established planning mechanisms.  In doing so, we uphold sound planning principles to continue to enhance the living environment for our people, facilitate the judicious use of land and other resources, strike an optimal balance between development and conservation, and preserve our pristine nature and rich biodiversity for our future generations.

Our built-up areas including the urban areas and new towns take up only 24% of our land area at present, and will still fall below 30% even when Hong Kong 2030+ materialises fully, with the vast majority of the land preserved in country parks, conservation areas and other settings for conservation purposes.  Making optimal use of the limited built-up land is key to sustainable development of our city.  Effective and efficient land administration and building control contribute not only to the optimal land and space utilisation and efficient deployment and use of infrastructure, but also to ensuring a safe and liveable built environment for the people.  A robust urban renewal strategy is also essential to rejuvenating our urban fabric, especially when we will be seeing a rapid “double-aging” of both our population and buildings over the next few decades.  These present both challenges and opportunities for enhancing the urban environment and liveability of our city.

Infrastructure Development

The Works Branch of the Development Bureau is responsible for formulating public works policies and co-ordinating and monitoring the implementation of public works projects. It also takes charge of policy matters concerning the increase of land supply through reclamation outside Victoria Harbour, rock cavern and underground space development, the development of Lantau, the transformation of Kowloon East (comprising the former industrial areas of Kwun Tong and Kowloon Bay and the Kai Tak Development Area) into another core business district to support Hong Kong’s economic development, construction safety, slope safety, lift and escalator safety, water supply, flood prevention, management of construction contractors and consultants as well as promotion of professional services, construction manpower resources, workers’ registration.

The bureau also provides policy guidance to government departments on greening, landscape and tree management and is responsible for the government’s heritage conservation work.  It seeks to strike a balance between development and conservation to ensure that all our development will be sustainable and our built heritage is suitably conserved for the enjoyment of our present and future generations.

The Development Bureau is underpinned by the departments of Architectural Services, Buildings, Civil Engineering and Development, Drainage Services, Electrical and Mechanical Services, Lands, Planning, and Water Supplies, as well as the Land Registry and the Antiquities and Monuments Office.  One of our main roles is to co-ordinate and resolve inter-departmental issues relating to planning, land, building and infrastructure development at an early stage.

This homepage provides information on our policies, initiatives, organisation and latest news. I hope you will find our homepage useful and informative. Your suggestions and comments are most welcome.

Enjoy your surfing!

WONG Wai-lun, Michael, JP
Secretary for Development