Hong Kong reclamation plan could earn city HK$1.6 trillion, claims consultant to group that wanted project to be even bigger
- Former lawmaker Kaizer Lau, who works for Our Hong Kong Foundation, believes project will break even within 20 years
- Surveyor points to potential growth in GDP from Greater Bay Area as reason to build more, and says planned development is too small
Hong Kong will break even on a controversial 1,700-hectare reclamation project off Lantau Island within 20 years and could make trillions of dollars from the deal, a member of a government-friendly think tank has claimed.
“Since we’re going to be spending that much money anyway, the more we build, the greater the cost-effectiveness,” Lau said on Monday.
Those opposing Lam’s “Lantau Tomorrow Vision” believe the scheme will come at high environmental and economic costs – conservative estimates put the price tag at about HK$500 billion (US$63.8 billion), roughly half of the city’s fiscal reserves, while others put it closer to HK$1 trillion.
It has also raised concerns of becoming a white elephant, not least because Hong Kong’s population is set to peak around 2040.
“If we only talk about the costs but not the returns, of course, it will seem frightening,” said Lau, who also staunchly supported developing land in the city’s protected country parks. “Plus, we’re doing it in phases, over 14 or 15 years.”
Lau said that based on potential land sales for residential development – assuming that one in every five square metres could be developed, sold at HK$10,000 per square foot and with a 70/30 split between public and private housing – plus commercial and industrial uses, about HK$1.6 trillion in land revenue could be generated.
