Editorial | Important questions await answers over Northern Metropolis

Hong Kong’s growth engine is switching to high gear after the authorities unveiled the action plan for the much-touted Northern Metropolis project. With four core zones dedicated to business, innovation, logistics and eco-recreation, the blueprint appears to have rightly integrated development needs with cross-border integration and housing supply. But the price tag remains unavailable, raising concerns whether there will be enough money to complete the ambitious venture.

The latest plan redrew the 30,000-hectare development into four major zones, adding a high-end professional services and logistics hub to the three clusters laid down by the former administration two years ago. A new university town is also included to foster cooperation with renowned mainland and overseas institutions.

With most of the 700 hectares to be resumed for development coming from the metropolis area, cost will be an issue. To ease the burden on public coffers, the authorities will allow the current owners of land earmarked for the new town to keep their plots and build according to zoning uses; but they will be required to pay a land premium. Compensation will only be offered if the land exchange model is rejected, according to the government.

Cost control for mega development is of paramount importance, especially when the metropolis plan goes in tandem with the artificial islands project off Lantau. Whether land swaps may help reduce the cost depends on owners’ responses. The new office set up to explore the financial arrangements for major infrastructure development must study whether there are better options.

Also worthy of concern is the approach towards wetland conservation. For a mega project spanning decades, adjustments along the road are not uncommon. But if the estimated 2,000 hectares of wetland for preservation under the vision of the previous administration are not meant to be “promises”, one may wonder whether any details in the latest plan can be taken as an undertaking. Officials should better explain how the current approach can strike a balance between development and conservation.

Assuming everything goes smoothly, the northern region shall evolve into a new innovation and technology hub, with good cross-border transport connection, ample job opportunities and affordable housing for 2.5 million people in the coming decades. Promising as it seems, it all depends on whether we can get the direction and details right. The action plan is just the first of many more steps to come. With mega vision comes mega costs. Officials must be prepared to think out of the box to ensure the metropolis will be both strategically and financially sound.