The Hong Kong SAR government has revealed its ambitious Lantau Tomorrow Vision plan to create a new economic hub on artificial islands in the waters around Kau Yi Chau and Hei Ling Chau.
The project will entail massive land reclamation to build a total of 1,700 hectares of artificial islands and a new cross-sea transport network linking the islands to Lantau, Tuen Mun and Hong Kong Island—making it the city’s most expensive infrastructure project.
The first stage alone is estimated to cost HKD624 billion, with HKD351 billion for the reclamation works for 1,000 hectares and HKD273 billion for part of the new transport network, which includes three rail links and three major roads, according to the South China Morning Post.
The artificial islands are expected to provide up to 260,000 flats, 70 per cent of which will be set aside for public housing. This is expected to improve the residential density in the older areas in urban districts, enabling people to live in bigger spaces and easing the traffic load in northwest New Territories.
Reclamation works is scheduled to start in 2025, and the first residents are expected to move in by 2032.
Amid concerns that the cost will wipe up the city’s fiscal reserves, which are estimated to stand at HKD1.16 trilling by the end of March 2019, Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun said the government is confident the cost will be eventually recouped through the sale of reclaimed land to developers.
The project is expected to cost an average of HKD40 billion to HKD50 billion annually, over a span of 15 years. Treasury officials are considering various methods to finance the project, including issuing bonds and allowing MTR Corporation-style property development along railway lines, Wong added.
Half of the city’s annual production of 15 million tons of construction waste could also be used to fill the sea, cutting reliance on imported sand. — Construction+ Online
