The Secretary for Development, Mrs Carrie Lam, today (December 13) attended "The 2nd Forum for Planning and Development Control of Greater Pearl River Delta (GPRD) City Conglomeration" held in Guangzhou and exchanged views with senior officials from the Mainland and the Macao Special Administrative Region on quality city planning issues. The last forum was held in 2004.
Mrs Lam also joined the Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, Mr Lin Musheng, and the Secretary for Transport and Public Works of Macao, Mr Lau Si Io, in speaking at the forum.
Jointly organised by the Hong Kong Institute of Planners and the Guangdong City Planning Association, the event aimed to provide a platform for planning professionals from the three places to share their valuable experiences with a view to creating high-quality and sustainable models for regional co-operation in the GPRD.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mrs Lam said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attached great importance to providing a quality living environment whilst pressing ahead with economic and infrastructure development.
Mrs Lam outlined four key approaches which would guide Hong Kong's future development. The first approach was to create a sense of place in Hong Kong through preserving local characteristics, conserving and revitalising historic buildings, and beautifying the harbourfront areas. The second approach was to continue preserving the countryside by careful spatial planning and efficient use of land resources. The third was to promote low carbon economy and green buildings and lastly, to develop eco-friendly new development areas to ensure adequate supply of land to meet Hong Kong's housing and other needs arising from the growth in population.
The forum today featured three focus group discussions on cultural preservation and urban regeneration, natural environment and environmental protection, and regional co-ordination and co-operation on infrastructure development.
Joining the discussions from Hong Kong were Director of Planning, Mrs Ava Ng, Executive Director of the Urban Renewal Authority, Ms Iris Tam, and President of the Hong Kong Institute of Planners, Mr K K Ling.
Ends/Saturday, December 13, 2008
Issued at HKT 20:06
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