https://www.scmp.com/rss/323917/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Chief executive-elect Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has pledged to address Hong Kong’s housing crisis by launching a “starter home” scheme. But will such a scheme really help? First, we must acknowledge that, as conceived, this is a type of social housing. The scheme is therefore much closer in philosophy to public housing and the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) than measures introduced by the Leung Chun-ying administration to rein in private housing excesses, such as the special stamp duty measures,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2085112/how-make-carrie-lams-starter-homes-truly-affordable-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2085112/how-make-carrie-lams-starter-homes-truly-affordable-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Apr 2017 09:39:47 +0000 Dear Carrie Lam, John Tsang and Woo Kwok-hing: in the last leg of your election campaigns to be Hong Kong’s next chief executive, I am proposing a policy challenge for you – to bring our city out of the dark ages of its land sale policy. The Hong Kong government has long followed a policy of not selling land cheaply in order to “safeguard” public revenue. This is done primarily through a public auction and tender process that makes money the only determinant of how land should be developed and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2075401/will-hong-kongs-next-leader-dare-stop-selling-land-highest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2075401/will-hong-kongs-next-leader-dare-stop-selling-land-highest?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Mar 2017 09:13:22 +0000 Hong Kong is a walking city, where the great majority of people use a combination of public transport and their own two feet to get around. Private car ownership is relatively low, which is why it is important for our government to take pedestrians into account while planning big-budget infrastructure and development projects. Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s swansong policy address on Wednesday was big on being big. It focused on ambitious, bricks-and-mortar development – particularly housing,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2063868/hong-kong-takes-baby-steps-towards-becoming-walkable-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2063868/hong-kong-takes-baby-steps-towards-becoming-walkable-city?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Jan 2017 04:38:55 +0000