Wander Meijer is executive director of Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden.
Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis is positioned as the city’s next engine of growth – a long-term solution to land supply, economic transformation and cross-boundary integration. Just as importantly, the government has stressed that this massive undertaking will embed nature conservation and urban-rural integration at its core. Yet, a growing contradiction lies at the heart of this vision.
The very landscapes that could support a green, sustainable and liveable Northern Metropolis – its remaining farmland – now face growing pressure under proposed legislation aimed at streamlining development. Prioritising speed, in this context, would eventually compromise the vision of a green economy.
Food security and economic development were Hong Kong’s biggest challenges for most of the last century. A large portion of the workforce was engaged in agriculture, shaping the territory’s landscape and laying the foundation for further economic development. Today, our economy depends on services, with fewer than 2,500 farms – many run by part-timers – occupying just 0.6 per cent of the territory.
While economic development remains a priority, climate change has been added to this challenge. The weather is getting hotter, more humid and more volatile, increasingly threatening the liveability of the city. This is why farmland is more critical than ever. Traditionally, farmland in Hong Kong has been viewed as a source of food production, but it plays a far broader and more important role.
These rural landscapes sustain some of the city’s last functioning lowland ecological networks, supporting biodiversity, regulating water flows (the “sponge city” effect) and buffering the climate impact. They also carry immense cultural and social value, preserving rural heritage, sustaining livelihoods and providing much-needed green relief within an increasingly dense urban environment.
Farmland is central to the government’s policy commitments. The Blueprint for the Sustainable Development of Agriculture and Fisheries recognises the need to preserve high-quality agricultural land. Agricultural priority areas (APAs) were proposed as a key mechanism to safeguard these spaces and support urban-rural integration. However, the fundamental challenge lies in timing.
02:28
Hong Kong’s largest sunflower garden faces closure amid Northern Metropolis plan
