Population, environment concerns are ‘overblown’
Concerns over the government’s “Lantau Tomorrow Vision” — including a slowing population growth and possible damage to the environment — were “overblown”, according to experts in Hong Kong.
Dean of Business at Chu Hai College of Higher Education Ho Lok-sang refuted arguments claiming the government had overstated Hong Kong’s need for developable land because the city’s population is estimated to grow by no more than 1 million from now until 2046.
Such arguments were based on the present living conditions of Hong Kong people, said Ho, adding that these advocates didn’t think of enhancing Hong Kong people’s quality of life.
Data provided by the Research Office of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council Secretariat show that the city’s per capita living space is 161 square feet in 2015. The Census and Statistics Department forecasts Hong Kong’s population in 2046 will be 8.2 million — up from today’s 7.4 million.
Ho drew references to Singapore, a city with much in common with Hong Kong — such as a limited supply of land and a large population. Data from China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong and International Chapter, a Hong Kong-based real-estate industry association, show that the city-state has gained more than 13,000 hectares of additional land through reclamation.
The Southeast Asian country’s per capita living space reached 323 square feet in 2014 — almost twice as much as Hong Kong’s figure in 2015.
Ho concluded that the massive reclamation plan is essential to the special administrative region, because it will provide more living space for Hong Kong people who are living in the most cramped conditions in the world’s major cities.
Some environmental groups expressed concerns about possible damage to the maritime ecosystem and to water quality brought about by reclamation.
Lawmaker Lo Wai-kwok, formerly president of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, said he was confident that new reclamation technologies, which tend to be more eco-friendly in future, will minimize the environmental impact.
He cited the construction of Hong Kong International Airport’s third runway as an example. To avoid contamination, the government adopted the deep cement mixing technique to do reclamations.
This technique injects and mixes cement slurry into unstable soft mud inside the pits on seabed, preventing mud from drifting and contaminating waters, explained Lo.