A sound and comprehensive infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, communication facilities is critical to the establishment of an efficient and liveable city. Likewise, quality digital infrastructure is essential for Hong Kong’s smart city development. The Financial Secretary has announced in the 2019-20 Budget that the Government will earmark $300 million to expedite the development of the Common Spatial Data Infrastructure (CSDI) for consolidation, exchange, sharing and innovative application of geospatial data and make available the high-quality three-dimensional (3D) digital maps of the whole territory in phases. Here, I have invited Mr CHAN Chung-ching, Thomas, Director of Lands, to introduce the Lands Department’s (LandsD’s) work on these two fronts and the way forward.

We are using “spatial data” every day

The term “spatial data” may sound unfamiliar, but it has become a part of our daily lives without us knowing it. “Spatial data” is any data with reference to an address or a specific geographical location. In fact, most mobile phone apps involve the use of spatial data. We may need it, for example, to find routes using mobile maps, or to locate a restaurant, car park, or bus stop with apps. The Government is pressing ahead with the development of the CSDI to provide a platform to consolidate, exchange and share geographic spatial data, so as to support the development and innovative use of various applications.

Building a “spatial data” supermarket

According to Mr Thomas CHAN, the CSDI is like a supermarket in which a wide variety of goods (spatial data) are offered by different suppliers, where the shelves and racks are attached with appropriate catalogues and labels telling how the data can be used, so it would be easy for the public and application developers to identify the suitable products and applications they need. The LandsD launched a new website, the Hong Kong GeoData Store in late 2018, and it can be deemed the alpha version of the CSDI portal.

Mr Thomas CHAN notes that the existing data portal is like a grocery store which still falls short of a hypermarket in terms of scale. In future, one of the major tasks is to keep expanding the data portal, digitise more land-related information and collect more data in relation to city infrastructure, facilities and even public services through collaboration with different government departments and various public and private sector organisations. The data will be released progressively to enrich the coverage and content of the data portal. He expects the work to complete by the end of 2022.

A more accurate and enriched 3D digital map

Apart from the CSDI, developing digital infrastructure also involves upgrading 2D maps to 3D digital maps. Mr Thomas CHAN explains that compared to 2D maps, 3D digital maps offer digital topographic map data which are more realistic, accurate and enriched with information, which is simply the replica of a real city built in a digital environment. Various data collected from sensors such as temperature, wind directions and noise, can be effectively incorporated into 3D maps to support a wide range of applications and analyses. 3D maps have a broader range of uses, including urban planning, land administration, engineering studies, environmental assessment, transportation studies, landscape design, aviation planning, logistic, development of relevant applications.

Three 3D digital map products

The LandsD is working on the development of three 3D digital map products, including (1) 3D city map, (2) 3D pedestrian and road network and (3) 3D indoor map.

Mr Thomas CHAN says that production of the 3D city map, which covers Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the new towns developed in the early days (such as Sha Tin, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Tsing, Tuen Mun, Tai Po), will begin in the second half of this year, and the map will be uploaded to the Hong Kong GeoData Store for public use. The map will then be extended to cover other places such as Lantau Island and the target is to complete the 3D city map for the whole territory by end-2023.

Meanwhile, to maintain a high availability of 3D digital map, the LandsD will, starting from the end of this year, progressively upload to the web the 3D pedestrian and road network modelling results of the urban areas and new towns of Hong Kong. The project is expected to complete by early 2020. By then, it will be able to help us find the optimal routes between destinations by not only providing navigation for motor vehicles but also for pedestrians. As for 3D indoor map, by producing 3D digital models according to the building plans of some 150 buildings, a pilot scheme will be launched by the LandsD to facilitate 3D digitisation of indoor environment. The initiative is expected to complete within this year and will eventually be extended to cover different buildings in the urban areas.

With the development of the CSDI and the territory-wide 3D digital map proceeding as scheduled, I hope that we can facilitate the opening up and sharing of more spatial data so that the data can be easily searched and used by the public as well as organisations from the public and private sectors, while at the same time, providing the essential digital infrastructure that underpins Hong Kong’s innovative technology and smart city development.