Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu is establishing a new high-level committee and introducing dedicated legislation to streamline administrative workflows and remove barriers and restrictions for the Northern Metropolis development as part of his fourth Policy Address.
Expressing concern over the slow pace of progress, Lee emphasized the vast potential of the strategic development area to boost productivity and improve public livelihood. “To further develop our economy and improve people’s livelihood, we must speed up the Northern Metropolis development,” he said.
A cornerstone of the proposed measures is the establishment of the Committee on Development of the Northern Metropolis, to be personally chaired by Lee, to accelerate high-level decision-making.
Three specialized working groups, each led by a senior official, will operate under the committee.
The Working Group on Devising Development and Operation Models, chaired by the Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, will be responsible for formulating development and operation models for industry parks in the metropolis.
Dedicated companies, or statutory or non-statutory bodies, will be set up for various industrial parks. An industry park, responsible for 23 hectares of industry land will also be set up. Details of the company will be announced by the Development Bureau after consulting the working group by the end of this year.
In the meantime, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will revise its public-private partnership policies and its tendering mechanism, as well as financing schemes.
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A dedicated project supervision office will be established under another planning and development working group led by the deputy financial secretary to enhance coordination and oversight of the approval process.
Government sources clarified that the office is not intended to replace existing approval procedures, but will instead coordinate among different departments to establish clear time limits for approvals and intervene proactively when progress is deemed inefficient, thereby accelerating administrative workflows.
The university town construction group, chaired by Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki, will study successful models from overseas and the Chinese mainland to attract top-tier international and domestic research institutions.
Government sources also disclosed that the planned five-hectare university town in Hung Shui Kiu will be expanded to nine hectares, in response to the public opinion.
To overcome administrative hurdles, the government will draw up a dedicated bill after a public consultation in the first two months of next year and table the bill to the Legislative Council in the middle of 2026.
Other measures include a "phased development" approach. For a trial 11-hectare commercial site in Hung Shui Kiu, the government will pilot low-density retail and entertainment facilities to generate early momentum. Accompanying this are flexible land-grant arrangements, extending short-term tenancies from seven years to a potential maximum of 21 years to attract investment.
Furthermore, a new "pay for what you build" model will allow developers to pay land premiums based on the actual floor area they construct, not the maximum permitted, significantly reducing upfront costs. This three-year pilot scheme for non-residential sites will require payment on only 60 percent of the floor area initially, with the option to develop the remaining area within a decade.
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Government sources also disclosed the results of a review of the Au Tau area of Yuen Long, potentially expanding it from 16 to 30 hectares, and introducing a significant proportion of private housing alongside public accommodation.
Contact the writer at stacyshi@chinadailyhk.com
