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OpinionLetters

Letters | Put HKU’s innovation centre in Cyberport and spare green belt land

  • Readers discuss the rezoning plan for Pok Fu Lam, taking a realistic approach to tourism development, and how music can be used to unite rather than divide

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Cyberport in Hong Kong’s Southern district. The expansion of Cyberport presents an ideal opportunity for HKU. By moving its Global Innovation Centre to Cyberport 5, it won’t need to ruin valuable green belt space in Pok Fu Lam. Photo: Jelly Tse
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I suggest the University of Hong Kong change the proposed location of its Global Innovation Centre to Cyberport. Cyberport was built 20 years ago with the mission of spearheading technology in Hong Kong, but it has not lived up to its promise.
It has hardly contributed any transformative technology, and in those same 20 years Shenzhen has risen to become a highly esteemed tech hub in southern China. Today, Cyberport is known more for its cluster of high-priced condominiums in an odd location which is not suitable to most businesses, and most top global technology companies – even Chinese tech giants such as Tencent and Baidu – have no presence there.
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But the expansion of Cyberport presents an ideal opportunity for HKU. Cyberport 5 is being built on reclaimed land and will have more than enough space for the Global Innovation Centre’s needs. The work is expected to be complete by the end of 2025 at the soonest. HKU and Hong Kong as a whole do not need to wait another decade to catch up in cutting-edge technology when the centre can be the anchor of Cyberport 5 and breathe new life into the broader Cyberport project.

Establishing the Global Innovation Centre at Cyberport 5 will remove the need to ruin valuable green belt space in Pok Fu Lam. The centre’s current proposed site is 4.72 hectares, 87 per cent of which is green belt land which would require extensive development before any buildings can be erected there, including the removal of thousands of trees.

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The rezoning application has been approved by the Town Planning Board, and the deadline for public feedback on the application lapsed this week. The plan now awaits a final decision by the Chief Executive in Council.

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