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Background

1. In the face of the increasingly intense global competition and the
rapid development of neighbouring economies (including
coastal cities of mainland China, Southeast Asian countries, etc.),
coupled with the development bottleneck as a result of serious
shortage of land in Hong Kong, the city’s relative competitive-
ness has been in decline. In the meantime, given the greatly
shortened commute between Hong Kong and the mainland upon
the completion of such major transport infrastructure as the
Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong
Kong Expressway and Tuen Mun to Chek Lap Kok Link Road, the
economic, social, and cultural exchanges and developments
among the Guangdong Province, Hong Kong, and Macau are set
to thrive. Moreover, Hong Kong plays a crucial role in the “Belt
and Road” and the “Greater Bay Area” Initiatives. If we can grasp
the opportunities and overcome the existing restrictions, Hong
Kong is poised to embrace another golden era of growth.

2. In the past decade, land shortage in Hong Kong has not only slowed
down our economic growth, but has led to a serious undersupply of
housing, sending property prices soaring, making them una ordable
to the majority of people. At the same time, subdivided units and
“nanometre flats” has become increasingly prevalent, further
worsening our quality of life. Moreover, homeownership has divided
the society into two groups with contradicting interests, the “haves”
and “have-nots”, and this is detrimental to the harmony and stability
of our society. Besides solving the problem of high property prices
and rents, we should also improve the living environment of Hong
Kong people and cope with the challenges of aging of both our
population and buildings.

3. Economic development and curbing soaring home prices are not the
only objectives of land development. In fact, equally important is the
adverse e ect brought about by land shortage to other aspects such
as social livelihood, healthcare, education, public housing. For
instance, land shortage contributes to the long waiting time of PRH
applicants, as a result, large number of applicants are forced to live in
sub-divided units. Land shortage breeds numerous social problems,
and increasing land supply is the pre-requisite to the solution of these
other problems.

4. "Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Tran-
scending 2030" ("Hong Kong 2030+") will be an important blueprint
for Hong Kong's future development. In view of this, Our Hong Kong
Foundation (OHKF) has consulted numerous stakeholders and
experts from various sectors to respond to the "Hong Kong 2030+"
consultation and hopes to devise a comprehensive solution to the
above di culties.

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