Over the past year and a half, we have taken forward a number of planning and engineering studies for the Fanling/Sheung Shui/Kwu Tung New Town, the Hung Shui Kiu New Development Area (NDA), the Tung Chung New Town Extension, Yuen Long South and Anderson Road Quarry, and have also explored the feasibility of reclamation outside Victoria Harbour and rock cavern development as medium- to long-term measures to increase land supply. However, to address the acute shortage of land in the short to medium term, we need to carry out other practical work at the same time......

Last week, I said that the Government has implemented a series of measures to facilitate the redevelopment and wholesale conversion of old industrial buildings to provide more floor space for suitable uses and to meet the changing social and economic needs of Hong Kong. This is one of the measures in our multi-pronged approach. The Chief Executive has also put forward a series of initiatives in his Policy Address to ensure stable and adequate supply of industrial and commercial land and facilities so as to maintain Hong Kong’s position as a world-class financial and commercial centre in Asia, promote the development of various industries, support continuous economic growth, and provide better opportunities for our people to get a job or start a business......

In recent years, while there has been a serious shortage of land for housing, the demand for offices, hotels and other commercial facilities has been increasing. As prices and rent levels for various properties keep rising, the business environment for small, medium and large enterprises as well as the community’s living environment has been affected, and Hong Kong’s competitiveness has been weakened. Land use review is one of our multi-pronged measures to increase land supply, which can optimise the use of our precious land resources to keep pace with the times. One of the measures is to review industrial sites for rezoning those which are vacant or under-utilised to other uses, thereby through redevelopment or wholesale conversion releasing their development potential and providing suitable floor space to meet Hong Kong’s social and economic needs......

Early last week we launched the Stage 2 public consultation for the Connecting Kowloon East – Environmentally Friendly Linkage System (EFLS), with a view to taking forward this landmark planning project with the community......

For an international metropolis like Hong Kong, a stable water supply forms an indispensable part of its infrastructure. However, given the territory’s scarce land resources, we had to bury most of our water mains under roads or pavements when developing the water supply network. With the rapid increase in development density and traffic flow in various districts, burst water mains on busy roads due to an ageing water supply network will inevitably cause great inconvenience to road users and the public......