Editorial | Northern Metropolis strategy taking shape but questions remain
Hong Kong megaproject will include universities and dormitories, an integrated hospital for teaching and research and, eventually, private flats
Hong Kong’s most ambitious development project yet – the Northern Metropolis – was met with a mix of optimism and scepticism when it was first floated by the administration three years ago.
Step by step, the strategy is starting to take shape. The authorities should closely engage stakeholders and seize opportunities to get all the details right.
The launch of a two-month consultation on the megaproject has taken the city a step closer to lifting the blueprint from the drawing board. Among the highlights is a new town at Ngau Tam Mei in Yuen Long.
More than one-third of the 127 hectares is earmarked as a university town, where the future third medical school will be located.
Local post-secondary institutions are to be encouraged to introduce more innovative and high-level branded programmes at undergraduate, postgraduate and professional levels, and research collaboration and exchange projects with renowned mainland and overseas institutions.
An integrated hospital used for teaching and research will take up another nine hectares, providing 3,000 beds and treatment for complicated diseases.
