Lantau to benefit from 'critical mass' development? Seriously?
If people want to live in a high-rise, they can go to Tuen Mun or Sha Tin and leave Lantau in peace, writes Cecilie Gamst Berg
It had been simmering for a while but, a couple of months ago, the government's extravagant plan to make crappy Lantau Island great (again?) burst forth. A cardboard photo exhibition at the ferry pier and a couple of "consultation meetings" explained to the stunned inhabitants the immense benefits a new town of one million people would bring to sleepy Mui Wo.
Lantau development committee sees island as only real estate
Any doubts the usual nimbys and nay-sayers may have had were quickly quashed by a press release from Secretary for Development Paul Chan Mo-po: "Such amount of population and economic activities could create economies of scale and critical mass, leading to a diversified and vibrant new development area." Quite.
No question that Lantau Island should be developed – but we must tread carefully
With the sleight of hand that has become the hallmark of our government, there will also be a critical mass of "outdoor living", "eco tourism" and "leisure" right next to, if not on top of, the new high-rises, MTR stations and highways. Evidently, our beaches, mountains, hiking trails, cable car, giant Buddha and fishing village aren't crowded enough.
I was thinking about that last weekend when I visited tiny Miyako-jima (population: 55,000), a subtropical island paradise just off Taiwan and the southernmost point of Japan.
Hong Kong must find space on Lantau island for development
My Japanese friend E, whom I was visiting, is involved in Miyako's burgeoning tourism industry and told me the little port has three large cruise ships arriving every week, flooding the island with Chinese. Next year, a mega luxury cruise ship from Guangzhou, holding up to 3,164 passengers, will start making regular landfall.