The Planning and Lands Bureau announced today (October 5) that it had received 161 entries to the West Kowloon Reclamation Concept Plan Competition. Of these, 71 are from Hong Kong and 90 are from elsewhere.
Expressing satisfaction with the high level of interest in the competition, the Secretary for Planning and Lands, Mr John Tsang, noted that about one third of those who had registered for the competition had submitted entries.
"This is a very good response, indicating strong interest by the private sector locally and internationally in participating in the long term planning and development of Hong Kong. I thank all of the entrants for the time and expense that they have incurred in preparing their entries," he said.
"The next step is for a Technical Panel to undertake a technical assessment of all of the entries by the end of this year as preparation for consideration of the entries by the Jury early in 2002," Mr Tsang said.
"I hope that we will be able to mount a public exhibition of the winning conceptual plans in March 2002. The public will then be able to visualise more clearly what kind of spectacular arts, cultural and entertainment facilities we can look forward to seeing on the West Kowloon waterfront," he said.
"There will be a lot of detailed planning work to do after the competition, but we hope to see the first buildings in the new entertainment district taking shape from about 2008 onwards. These are likely to include, for example, a major performance venue, a museum complex and themed entertainment facilities," Mr Tsang added.
The Planning and Lands Bureau launched the West Kowloon Reclamation Concept Plan Competition on April 6, 2001 to invite conceptual proposals for the development of the 40-hectare waterfront site at the southern tip of the West Kowloon Reclamation into an integrated arts, cultural and entertainment district.
The entry deadline was noon on September 29, 2001. Entries dispatched by air on or before September 26, are accepted as meeting the deadline if they arrive after September 29, provided that proof of the date of dispatch is available. The number of entries received is therefore subject to minor revision.
The Government received a total of 502 registrations from potential participants, of which 169 were from Hong Kong and 333 from elsewhere.
End/Friday, October 5, 2001
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