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Opinion | Six ways Hong Kong can finance the crucial Lantau Tomorrow Vision
- 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
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Although Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s policy address has been postponed, discussions on how to increase Hong Kong’s land supply remain a hot topic, particularly on the Lantau Tomorrow Vision project. Given the concern over the project’s financial sustainability, it is important to analyse different development options.
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One may ask whether the Lantau Tomorrow Vision is necessary. We believe it is. The project is crucial to resolving Hong Kong’s land shortage. If factors including the growth in households, the need to increase living space and supply economic and other infrastructure are considered, the city will need more than 9,000 hectares of land in the long term.
But only 5,000 hectares are accounted for in short- and long-term projects, including conceptual options, and these include the 1,700 hectares from the Lantau project.
Hong Kong needs more investments, given the economic downturn. The Lantau project can achieve a countercyclical effect, triggering further investment and creating jobs. Indeed, its financial benefits outweigh the cost.
The Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors has estimated that the Lantau project land sale could bring in up to HK$1.14 trillion (US$147 billion), exceeding the projected cost of HK$620 billion. In return, the project would create 180,000 public housing units, 200,000 jobs and a strategic transport network.
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Why Carrie Lam’s Lantau land reclamation plan is so controversial
Why Carrie Lam’s Lantau land reclamation plan is so controversial
The government, in launching large projects, has used various development models to ease the financial burden. Let us look at six such models.
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