Why reclamation, not public housing, is Hong Kong’s path to solving the housing crisis

Ronny Tong says Hong Kong has been historically built on reclaimed land and that this remains the most cost-effective and efficient way for the city to meet its housing and economic needs

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Public and private housing estates in Tseung Kwan O, one of the new towns built by the government in the 1980s. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 4:00pm, 12 Aug 2018Updated: 12:13pm, 13 Aug 2018

Apart from political reform, you could say trying to create land for development is the next most controversial issue facing Hong Kong in recent years. Yes, Hong Kong is an island, and yes, we have more hills than flatland, but still, developed areas only represent less than 25 per cent of our total area. This is in comparison with 40 per cent of our area being designated country parks and natural reserves. And yet, we have long been stuck with the infamous reputation of being a concrete jungle and having the smallest living space per capita in this region. What is our problem?

During the colonial era, we were somewhat more alert to problems created by our growing population. In the 1960s and 1970s, we witnessed the dawn of new towns such as Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun, quickly followed by Tai Po, Yuen Long, Fanling-Sheung Shui, Tsing Yi, Tseung Kwan O, Tin Shui Wai and Ma On Shan.

We did not let up even when we got close to the handover. In 1996, we began developing North Lantau, Tung Chung and Tai Ho Wan. We did a lot of this by reclamation. All in all, up until 1997, we reclaimed some 60 sq km of land, or about 20 per cent of our built-up area. Such was our effort in the colonial days.

Sadly, with the return of sovereignty to China, a more open government with a higher degree of autonomy and greater democracy, we began to slow down our effort to tackle our housing problems until we practically stopped all public and subsidised housing projects during the Donald Tsang administration. That is, however, not our only problem.

Take the northeast New Territories development as an example. Planning officially started in 2008 and, in 2012, the matter was first introduced in the Legislative Council. A decade later, we still have not completely resolved the issue of resumption of land, whereby the government is authorised to repossess land for a public purpose. Some would say, at this rate, reclamation will be a just as, if not a more, efficient way of creating land for development.