Could Hong Kong's country parks really be concreted over?
City's country parks are havens cherished and used by millions, but they’re under threat again
Boasting scenic hills, woodlands, reservoirs and beaches, the city's 440 square kilometres of country parks are used daily by tens of thousands of people.
So when Development Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po suggested on his blog last week that the parts of some of them could be built over for housing, it sparked intense debate. The fact Chan claimed that 70 per cent of Hong Kong had been designated as country parkland - when in fact only 40 per cent has been zoned as such - also drew much comment.
The outcry that greeted his idea was similar to the disgust shown by Hongkongers in 2002, when, with the city's property market five years into a cyclical slump, it was suggested by government officials that the best way to plug the Hong Kong's budget deficit would be to sell off its country parks for property development.
In July last year, the government forecast that the city's population will grow by 593,000 between now and the middle of 2023, and the argument for parkland development that government officials now advance privately is that the city is desperately short of building land but will require 470,000 new flats over the next decade.
If the government is to build the flats Hong Kong needs over the next 10 years to alleviate its acute housing shortage, some officials, such as Chan, say clearing country parkland for development is the only viable option.
That proposal that has stirred up a huge amount of controversy, as the parks' popularity with the public is obvious. They are cherished as pockets of natural beauty, havens of tranquillity and easily accessible playgrounds away from the concrete jungle, and they are an integral part of many people's lifestyles