Eight brownfield clusters in Hong Kong could provide 20,000 flats within 10 years, government says
- Sites in Yuen Long, Tuen Mun and Tai Po districts suitable for engineering feasibility studies for public housing, paper says
- Development Bureau expects to transform the land into ‘spade-ready sites’ and hand them over to Housing Department in about six years
A total of 20,000 public housing flats could be built in Hong Kong within a decade by developing eight brownfield clusters in the New Territories, the government revealed on Wednesday.
However, indigenous locals and a land concern group said the proposal did not go far enough as just 36 hectares out of the 160 identified as having high potential in a government study were chosen for development.
According to a Development Bureau paper submitted to the legislature, eight brownfield clusters ranging in area from one to 13 hectares in Yuen Long, Tuen Mun and Tai Po districts were suitable for engineering feasibility studies for public housing.
By combining the various sites – 36 hectares in total – with adjoining land parcels, 63 hectares could be formed, resulting in enough land for more than 20,000 homes.
As most of the 63 hectares was privately owned, mandatory land resumption would be needed, the bureau said. About a fifth of the area was government land.