Blog Articles from former Secretary for Development, Mr Paul Chan - (1/12/2013 - 15/01/2017)

Infrastructure developments such as roads, harbour facilities, boundary control points, new development areas, waterfronts, greening areas, cycle tracks and landslide mitigation are essential in enhancing the quality of our living environment and Hong Kong’s competitiveness, as well as achieving sustainable development.  The dedicated team behind all these infrastructure developments is the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD), which is tasked with the planning, implementation and co-ordination work. Time flies; 10 years have passed since the establishment of the CEDD. The department has always remained vigilant and has taken on more vital roles over the past two years.  As the current-term Government has been striving hard on all fronts to find land to meet the community’s needs in housing and other areas, the important tasks of providing infrastructure and land have fallen squarely on the shoulders of the CEDD.

Ten years ago, the Government initiated a review of the future development modes of Hong Kong, as well as the duties and functions of the then Civil Engineering Department and the Territory Development Department.  The CEDD was established to streamline the organisation structure, create synergy between the two departments and provide a wider range of services.  Apart from taking forward the works already commenced by the two former departments, the CEDD has also launched other infrastructure projects. I will now go through some of the major works projects undertaken by the CEDD since its establishment.

Shortly after its establishment, the CEDD took over and completed the works in the Penny’s Bay development area to tie in with the construction and launch of the Hong Kong Disneyland International Theme Park.  Back in 2000, Penny’s Bay in Lantau was still a vast expanse of water. In just five years, the CEDD completed the major infrastructure works for the theme park, including reclamation, the roads linking North Lantau to Penny’s Bay, ferry piers, public transport interchange facilities, police post, fire station, the Inspiration Lake Recreation Centre and drainage and sewerage facilities, as well as amenity works.  As the design of the works had to blend in with the environment of Disneyland, such as the Victorian architectural style of the ferry piers, the CEDD had to meet strict requirements in building quality.

In addressing the community’s housing needs, the CEDD substantially completed the infrastructure works at Tseung Kwan O Town Centre South last year. Tseung Kwan O Town Centre South and the Tiu Keng Leng development areas currently provide a total of about 19.5 hectares of land for housing development, which can accommodate about 25 000 people. In addition, the areas also provide land for the development of government, institution or community facilities and for open space, including a waterfront park with a 50-metre-wide central avenue, a 4-kilometre cycle track and a waterfront promenade for the public to enjoy the magnificent harbour view.

The development project at Anderson Road is another large scale multi-disciplinary project that aims to meet the long-term public housing development. It includes the formation of some 20 hectares of land platforms and the construction of associated infrastructure facilities in Sau Mau Ping for the development of public housing, open spaces and related community facilities in future. All the sites formed were handed over to the Housing Department in batches between 2011 and 2013. The housing development projects will be completed in phases between 2015 and 2017, providing some 17 900 public housing units to accommodate about 48 300 people.

Apart from the development of housing sites, major road infrastructure projects are key supporting facilities to improve the existing urban areas and new development areas.  Among the major works projects are Central Reclamation Phase III, Wan Chai Development Phase II and the Kai Tak Development. Central Reclamation Phase III has provided a world-class waterfront promenade in Central, and new roads were opened in 2010 to help relieve traffic congestion in Central. Wan Chai Development Phase II is now in full swing, while the commissioning of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass is expected in 2017. This will provide relief to traffic congestion along Connaught Road Central, Harcourt Road and Gloucester Road Corridor. The Kai Tak Development will help sustain Hong Kong’s economic growth and stimulate the regeneration of old districts such as Kowloon City, Wong Tai Sin and Kwun Tong. The project is being implemented in phases, while facilities including the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal Building and the first berth, public rental housing, Runway Park (Phase I), the District Cooling System (early phases) and the associated supporting infrastructure have been progressively completed since 2013.

The CEDD has provided a wide spectrum of high quality civil engineering services, and I shall not list them all here. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the CEDD held an anniversary logo design competition. In the logo, the abbreviations of its departmental name “土木” and “CEDD” intertwine with the number 10 to symbolise the years of services provided by the department. The tree-like green figure “1” denotes that the department has been nurturing talents over the past 10 years just like a tree nourishing its branches. The blue “0” is kept open to read like “C”, which signifies “continuous improvement”.  As with the CEDD’s existing departmental logo, this design is in green and blue to  represent the broad range of services covering mountains and seas.