Hong Kong’s Development Bureau requests HK$29.2 billion for Hung Shui Kiu new town plan

Development officials lay out details of funding appeal at Legislative Council for 263-hectare second phase of Hung Shui Kiu-Ha Tsuen project

New town is part of Northern Metropolis scheme near border between city and mainland China

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The Hung Shui Kiu area in the New Territories. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 11:11pm, 23 Jan 2024Updated: 4:05am, 24 Jan 2024

Hong Kong’s Development Bureau has asked for HK$29.2 billion (US$3.7 billion) in to push forward a plan to establish a new town involving Hung Shui Kiu and Ha Tsuen in the New Territories as part of a mega-metropolis near the border between the city and mainland China.

Officials from the bureau on Tuesday laid out the details of the funding appeal at the Legislative Council for the 263-hectare (650-acre) second phase development of the Hung Shui Kiu-Ha Tsuen project, involving 441 hectares in total.

Almost HK$25.9 billion, or 90 per cent, of the funding has been earmarked for site formation and engineering infrastructural works, and the rest for building a district cooling system and cash allowances for households affected by land acquisition.

The new town is part of the Northern Metropolis scheme, a government project which plans to develop about 30,000 hectares (74,132 acres) of land in the New Territories into an economic and housing hub over the next 20 years.

A brownfield site in Ha Tsuen, which is part of new town development plan. Photo: May Tse

To reduce government expenditure to acquire private land for development, landowners can apply for a land exchange scheme in Hung Shui Kiu.

Eligible applicants can convert their farmland into designated uses by paying land premiums, which can be negotiated with the government or determined based on a standard rate set by official surveyors.