Developing 1,300 hectares of Hong Kong brownfield sites a challenge, panel warns

Almost all 1,300 hectares of Hong Kong’s brownfield sites are occupied by business operators, a government panel has warned, posing challenges for land development in the space-starved city.

The Task Force on Land Supply on Tuesday said more than 90 per cent of brownfield sites – damaged agricultural land mostly located in the New Territories – housed businesses that offered a “significant economic contribution”. It was the panel’s second meeting since it was established in September.

As open-air storage facilities, warehouses and car parks, the businesses served as a backbone for the logistics industry, task force chairman Stanley Wong Yuen-fai said.

“These brownfield sites are not idle land … The major challenge [in developing brownfield sites] is that there are multiple operators employing people, working on a day-to-day basis, that make economic contributions,” Wong said.

Citing recent information from consultants, the task force identified about 540 hectares of larger brownfield sites with higher development potential. They are concentrated in four areas: northern Fanling and northern Kwu Tung; Hung Shui Kiu; southern Yuen Long; and northern New Territories.