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Build more flats on rural land, professor suggests

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More of Hong Kong's countryside should be opened up for the building of more flats to cool the property market, an academic proposes.

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Speaking at the RTHK City Forum in Victoria Park yesterday, Professor Eddie Hui Chi-man of Polytechnic University's department of building and real estate said residential areas covered less than one-tenth of Hong Kong's land.

'Much of our land has not yet been developed. Our town planning should be aimed at meeting the needs of society,' he said.

'We could look into rezoning agricultural land. We could also look at the country parks or industrial areas in the city.

'With population growing, the housing needs of people will also increase. If the housing problem is not properly addressed, this can become a time bomb.'

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Forum speakers agreed urgent action was needed to address the problem of soaring property prices but had reservations about the suggestion that non-locals should be banned from buying flats.

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