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Letters | Hong Kong housing: how developing Lantau further today can avoid reclamation tomorrow

  • The development of Discovery Bay offers a model that would allow Hong Kong to replenish its coffers and avoid the damaging environmental impacts of reclamation

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A view of idle land next to Hong Kong Disneyland on Lantau Island. Photo: Sam Tsang
Lantau Tomorrow: white elephant or silver bullet?” (December 6) deserves our attention and discussion as it is a controversial issue in a land-hungry city like Hong Kong. Land scarcity has been a perennial problem in this enclave. If the question was asked some 40 years ago, we would have had different answers from the ones coming up today.

Nowadays, political, social and economic variables are changing rapidly and beyond recognition. Therefore, any prudent decision cannot be easily arrived at. A tide of emigration may affect the population pyramid and social structure of Hong Kong. Lantau is Hong Kong’s biggest outlying Island, and it is the ideal place to thin out urban population density.

Forty years ago, transport, composition of the population and economic models were the obstacles to developing Lantau. Now, as Hong Kong is more affluent, more people would like to have a tranquil living environment. Lantau is the last option offering a reservoir of land for future use.

The potential for Lantau to be developed into an ideal residential area was demonstrated by the special arrangement that allowed Hong Kong Resort Company to be the sole developer of Discovery Bay on Lantau Island. The story of how Hong Kong Resort gained the right to develop Discovery Bay, without facing keen competition, is an interesting one.

02:43

Why Carrie Lam’s Lantau land reclamation plan is so controversial

Why Carrie Lam’s Lantau land reclamation plan is so controversial

Can Hong Kong Resort’s success serve as a model whereby we create similar opportunities for property companies to develop large chunks of land on Lantau? The tempo of development of the different chunks would be determined by the different companies.

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