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and low-carbon community for living, work, business, leisure and study;

4. Setting great store by ecological conservation: The predominant part
of Lantau is recommended to be reserved for conservation, leisure,
cultural and green tourism. The development plan should encompass
the enhancement of accessibility of Lantau under the principle of
respecting nature and conservation, to unleash the full potential in the
fields of education, recreation, and green tourism.

5. Establishing a dedicated office: The government should establish an
office led by top government officials to coordinate issues surrounding
the Lantau Development, to prevent duplicated efforts of departments,
and ensure the consistency and continuity of the whole development
plan.

5.3 Suggestion 1: Prioriti sing
Transportation in Urban Development

New towns are an integral part of Hong Kong’s socioeconomic
development. Currently, the nine new towns of Hong Kong accommodate
a total of 3.4 million people (45% of the total population). Efficient intra- and
inter-town transportation is the key to new town development, but Tung
Chung is weak in both. As the first priority, transportation within northern
Lantau Island, especially the one connecting Tung Chung New Town to the
airport island and Disneyland, must be improved.

Furthermore, the fact that the population of Tung Chung New
Town constantly falls short of its original planned capacity is also partly due
to the chronic shortage of supporting community facilities. Without notable
improvements in transportation in Lantau, the existing problems of long
commute time and high transportation costs, will be further exacerbated by
the increased population intake of the Lantau Development. Worse still, the
town may become a bottleneck after the completion of HKZMB. To avoid
the city’s past planning mistakes in developing new towns, transportation
must be prioritised in the Lantau Development blueprint.

5.4 Suggestion 2: Balancing the Differ-

ent Aspirations in Different Regions

Lantau is a complexing island. On one hand, it accommodates a
world-class international airport, Hong Kong’s ninth new town and the re-
nowned theme park Disneyland. On the other, it encompasses extremely
valuable ecological treasures and cultural heritage. As each part of the
island exhibits different characteristics in terms of development potential,
transportation infrastructure, community facilities, carrying capacity etc., It is
of utmost importance to tailor various development strategies for different
regions, balancing the different aspirations in different regions.

In view of the large differences between northern and southern
Lantau Island, we suggest adopting the principle of “development in the

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