Three visions unveiled for Kai Tak's future

Officials designing the development of the old Kai Tak airport site have come up with three proposals - all with the number of flats drastically reduced from previous expectations.

With no reclamation needed under the new plans, the population at the old airport and surrounding area could drop to as low as 69,000, compared with more than 320,000 originally estimated with reclamation in mind.

The government originally planned to reclaim 133 hectares of the harbour as part of the Southeast Kowloon project to transform the area into a high-density residential area a decade ago. Officials later changed their mind and proposed a sports city or a low-density green town.

Today the Harbourfront Enhancement Committee will discuss the three new proposals. All three contain several common features - a 45,000 capacity stadium, a cruise terminal and waterfront promenade.

Under the proposals, the stadium would have a retractable roof that would make the venue suitable for different sporting events, while the cruise terminal would feature two berths and other tourism-related facilities.

The lowest density proposal is the Sports by the Harbour plan, which caters for a 69,000 population. The residential area would be centred around the stadium along the old Kai Tak runway.