To the point,
The Lantau Tomorrow Vision project is one of the highlights of Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s 2018 Policy Address. It grabbed the attention of Hong Kong residents immediately and stimulated their imaginations. This is because it aims at easing one of the city’s worst headaches — a shortage of land for infrastructure as well as residential housing development — through reclamation east of Lantau Island. Hong Kong is no stranger to reclamation and its residents have no doubts that Lantau Tomorrow will carry an astronomical price tag, but many of them were probably not prepared to see an estimated HK$624 billion in overall costs. That said, economic academics in the city are fully confident the project will prove worthwhile and make a handsome profit — like so many reclamation projects did in the past.
Some naysayers, led by a few opposition members of the Legislative Council, have been attacking the project from left and right since it was announced. They even likened it to dumping cash into the sea, although no one actually believed they were serious about that accusation. As Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun pointed out at a press briefing on Tuesday, there are multiple ways for the government to profit from the project, such as sale of reclaimed land for residential and commercial development, property tax and stamp duties and various fees for use of roads, tunnels and bridges. Indeed, 38 economics academics signed a petition to support the plan in November last year, calling it a great social investment. They believe the artificial island will provide land for commercial use with estimated revenue of HK$360 billion and residential land with estimated revenue of HK$480 billion, more than enough to cover the estimated reclamation costs, not to mention the huge social benefits.
The fact that the project will create Hong Kong’s third central business district also means it will be a considerable source of revenue for the government, apart from easing the pressure on the existing two CBDs in terms of demand for office space. Of course it will be home to thousands of new residential units as well. It is safe to say the project enjoys majority support from Hong Kong society despite opposition by the usual confrontationists, who apparently have no housing worries of their own.
Many public opinion polls in recent years found more respondents in support than otherwise of creating land for residential housing through reclamation simply because it is less complicated than other options. There is no denying reclamation projects and infrastructure development that follow always demand huge amounts of investment in taxpayer money. However, it is equally obvious Hong Kong’s housing woes are causing so many problems that the longterm damage to social stability and prosperity is beyond calculation in money terms. The Lantau Tomorrow Vision is not only necessary but also more practicable than other options, given that its large scale that can provide a meaningful volume of usable land.