At its meeting today (February 9), the Land and Development Advisory Committee (LDAC) was briefed on the planning and land-related policy initiatives in the 2015 Policy Address and the work of the Energizing Kowloon East Office (EKEO) including its Conceptual Master Plan (CMP) 4.0 newly released in January 2015.
Members supported the initiatives and the Government's continued efforts to increase land supply in the short, medium and long term as mentioned in the 2015 Policy Address. They appreciated the challenges and agreed that, for the Government's effort to increase land supply, particularly housing land supply, to succeed, the community would need to make hard choices and put the overall community's housing needs above their own personal interests.
On the EKEO's work and the CMP 4.0, members were briefed on the initiative to transform Kowloon East by a place-making approach emphasising high-quality urban design, active dialogues and community-based activities with different stakeholders. The CMP 4.0, which consolidates the previous CMPs and incorporates new initiatives, includes five key focuses, namely "Walkable" Kowloon East which emphasises improving connectivity and enhancing the pedestrian environment and traffic condition; Green Core Business District for a low carbon green community; Smart City initiative; Kai Tak Fantasy project; and the Spirit of Creation in urban design and place making strategies.
Members appreciated the efforts to transform Kowloon East into an attractive core business district to sustain Hong Kong's economic development. Members also agreed that such efforts would be conducive to the connectivity, branding, design and diversity of Kowloon East. Members agreed with the relevant initiatives and that the Government should continue its effort in transforming Kowloon East, which would contribute to increasing the overall supply of commercial/office floor space.
Ends/Monday, February 9, 2015
Issued at HKT 22:40
NNNN