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Ryan Ip
Ryan Ip is the vice-president and co-head of research at Our Hong Kong Foundation. He is also a member of the Advisory Committee on the Northern Metropolis, the Town Planning Board, and the Maritime and Port Board. He holds a master of science degree in economics from the London School of Economics and is a chartered surveyor.
From Bali’s resorts to Beijing’s countryside attractions, other ecotourism sites provide useful templates for developing South Lantau.
The Housing Authority must meet its promise of affordability with a more flexible pricing mechanism to respond quickly to market changes. Home size is also a key consideration and flats need to be big enough to meet people’s aspirations for a better quality of life.
The hiccups at some recent events, from the Wan Chai bazaar to the world rallycross race, are the result of a lack of coordination. A transformation of the government’s role is desperately needed.
Rather than be deterred by sluggish market sentiment, the government should adapt its approach to land creation and housing construction – by sequencing its development priorities, offering smaller land parcels, or turning more land over to building subsidised housing.
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On top of regulating the private market, the government could help make the subsidised flat market more liquid while ring-fencing it for local residential use. It should offer more subsidised flats for sale and also start building bigger homes.
Traditional options for senior living such as care homes or moving in with family are growing less viable amid demographic change and other trends. Providing Hong Kong’s elderly with more options such as ageing in place and exclusive senior housing can help delay or avoid putting them in care homes.
Just creating the San Tin Technopole won’t be enough on its own to diversify the economy. Innovative ideas on public-private partnerships, business incentives, land allocation and more are necessary to achieve the lofty goals.
Extend the mortgage guarantee on HOS resale flats to make loans more affordable, abolish limits on buyer eligibility certificates and give failed applicants of new flats a weighted chance
Infrastructure projects are often dubbed white elephants during the planning stage, but in retrospect their contributions are invaluable. Shedding new light on cash-flow management and industry development initiatives for the artificial islands could help clear up lingering concerns.
More starter homes and youth hostels are good ideas that take time. Why not also free up existing housing resources by opening up the ‘white form’ scheme for a start?
The pandemic is an obvious scapegoat, but the government’s failure to keep the waiting time for a public housing flat down to three years predates the arrival of Covid-19. Instead, we should look to the many rounds of consultations, redesigns and developer disputes to understand why waiting times have increased in recent years.
The use of deep cement mixing helps avoid the release of large amounts of marine sediment and traffic, easing environmental concerns. Future reclamation works can benefit as it provides a good alternative to lengthy land resumption.
With land and housing supply lagging behind targets for years, the situation is now dire. The government must expedite all major land supply initiatives, especially the New Development Areas, and streamline procedures.
The problem stems from a lack of large-scale land development over the past 20 years. Of particular concern is the low proportion of government, large and spade-ready sites. To break this vicious circle, long-term projects must be delivered on time, or even ahead of schedule.
The government, in launching large projects, has used various development models to ease the financial burden. Providing a clear direction will help win public confidence.
Without an industrial blueprint and economic planning, Hong Kong may miss the opportunities in modern logistics, as a land supply shortage restricts the growth of the larger warehouses and data centres needed in the evolution.
At the crux of delays is a lack of transparency. An official one-stop platform disclosing the progress of each public housing project would allow government bureaus to be held accountable, and development timelines to be better respected.
Public and private completions in the city are set to plunge in the next few years and experts say a multipronged approach is needed to ensure the looming crisis is averted
The government needs to adopt a multi-pronged approach to increasing land supply, including reclamation off the east of Lantau Island
The government’s rose-tinted projections of public flat numbers are not supported by the actual pace of construction and cannot relieve the city’s severe housing crunch. Worse, they take the focus away from the real problem at hand: the shortage of land.
Brownfield sites emerged as a result of negligence in land planning. Developing them, while accounting for the existing businesses and workers on the land, will be more challenging than is commonly thought.
Land shortage in Hong Kong is so critical that piecemeal solutions will simply not satisfy people’s need for more affordable and spacious housing. After weighing the pros and cons, reclamation is the city’s best option.
