Policies and institutions deal with people. This is why they must be people-centric, which requires policymakers to put themselves in the position of the people who are served and affected by the policies and institutions. We need to appreciate their needs, difficulties, and concerns. But at the same time, we also need to think about the people who play a role in the policies as they are implemented. Only with a good understanding of human nature can we succeed in achieving the goals and visions of what we set out to achieve.

Although there are still many doubters, 2026 promises to be a great turning point for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The economy performed strongly in the first quarter with a remarkable 5.9 percent year-on-year growth. Exports of goods were up by 23.7 percent. Hong Kong also overtook Switzerland as the world’s top wealth management center and completed 87 initial public offerings raising capital amounting to HK$210 billion ($26.8 billion), up 92.1 percent over the year. The city’s overall prime office vacancy rate fell to a seven-month low in May, with premium offices in Central close to full occupancy; according to Jones Lang LaSalle, retail sales are also showing buoyancy, suggesting that 2026 will be a great year to start off the city’s first five-year plan.

While I am not at all worried about Hong Kong’s economic future, I do hope that the city’s five-year plan will have a people-centric concept as the core of its design thinking.

There is little doubt that housing is still the first priority among many who are paying a hefty rent for their tiny flats in the private market. I hope the SAR government will take a bold step and make it a priority to accommodate those who meet the public rental housing (PRH) waiting list income limit (WLIL) over those whose incomes are more than twice the WLIL. I had previously recommended that those who exceed the WLIL pay double rent while those whose incomes exceed twice the WLIL should vacate their flats. This may sound tough, but we can raise the WLIL by 50 percent before adopting this policy. This would mean that tenants need to have incomes three times today’s WLIL before they need to vacate.

There is little doubt that housing is still the first priority among many who are paying a hefty rent for their tiny flats in the private market. I hope the SAR government will take a bold step and make it a priority to accommodate those who meet the public rental housing (PRH) waiting list income limit (WLIL) over those whose incomes are more than twice the WLIL

This proposal would immediately cut the waiting time to less than two years. At the same time it would boost the private housing market and enhance government land sale revenues. The government would also save money spent on building and maintaining an otherwise much bigger public housing stock.

The Chinese often refer to anjuleye as important ingredients of a good life. Anju is to secure a safe home; leye is to secure a job that offers fulfillment. Public housing should accommodate all those who need it. PRH is for those who cannot afford a private flat or a Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flat. HOS flats, for sale at a big discount, should offer better accommodations than PRH housing to those who can afford the price, which is to be pegged at eight times the annual household income of economically active households on average. These flats, with usable space of about 38 square meters, should be available to all permanent residents without income and asset requirements. We should dispense of the lottery altogether and avail these flats to all residents on a self-selection basis. Because these flats are basic, small but not tiny, and are not located in prime sites, those who can afford better will not buy them, particularly because owners are obliged to live there and are not allowed to own a private property. They are nevertheless decent homes for young couples to raise a family with two children. When the owning family is better off, they will have an incentive to trade up, and sell the flat without having to repay any land premium.

Meanwhile, anju also means living with peace of mind in one’s home. A key lesson from the Wang Fuk Court fire disaster in November in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong is that we must be aware of human weaknesses that can lead to flouting of the mechanisms intended to safeguard against abuses and disasters. For too long we have trusted that professionals will act professionally. But sadly, professionals are human, and there must be mechanisms to prevent conflicts of interest. It is reassuring that Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau Ying-wah recently announced that the government is working with the Competition Commission to make bid-rigging a criminal offense. Bid-rigging was prevalent because the lure of exorbitant profits was just too great, to the extent that many professionals fell in and forgot about their responsibilities and ethics. Professionals are human. Without adequate checks against abuses many would be tempted to take chances. Even Arthur Andersen, a reputable accounting firm among the “Big Five”, collaborated with Enron to falsify records that allowed Enron to continue its operations until the damage grew much bigger, causing even greater social cost. In the Wang Fuk Court disaster, conflicts of interest were not identified before it was too late, as there is now evidence that the main contractor and the engineering consultant had collaborated.

The author is an honorary research fellow at the Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute, Lingnan University, and an adjunct professor at the Academy for Applied Policy Studies and Education Futures, the Education University of Hong Kong.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.