Could Hong Kong’s car parks be phased out to make room for housing land? This developer thinks so

Some of Hong Kong’s car parks could eventually become redundant as people swap their vehicles for public transport, freeing up much needed land for residential use, according to one of the city’s major developers.

Donald Choi, chief executive of Chinachem Group, believes advances in transport technology and improvements to existing transit systems mean private-car ownership will start to fall in the long term.

“Hong Kong is a compact city. Public transport is also done very satisfactorily. I think what could happen is that people’s desire to use private cars may gradually reduce,” said Choi.

“Then there may be some redundant car parks that can be converted to other uses. This is one possibility.”

His comment comes a week after a buyer splashed out a world-record HK$6 million (US$760,000) for a single parking bay in Ho Man Tin’s “Ultima” development, underlining Hong Kong’s position as the world’s most expensive place to buy or rent a parking spot in a luxury project.

But Choi believes the current dearth of parking spaces that has driven prices so high could eventually become a surplus as residents give up their cars.