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Facilitating Travel and Creating Development Capacity under an Infrastructure-led Approach
What constitutes high-quality urban development and an ideal living environment? A convenient and efficient transport network is certainly one important element, for it enables us to save commuting time, whether we are going to/returning from work/school or doing other things. With a well-developed and convenient transport network, we can travel with ease to meet the needs of our work, daily living and family.
At present, developed areas account for only about a quarter of the area of Hong Kong, which is at about 1 100 square kilometres. As we open up more land for housing and expand development capacity, we must plan the transport network and system well in advance to foster faster and more efficient development and meet the needs of the relevant areas in a timely manner.
As at last year, Hong Kong had a population of around 7.3 million, of which over 3.9 million resided in the New Territories, accounting for approximately 54% of our total population and up by 3.4 percentage points as compared to the figure 20 years ago. The share of the population residing in Kowloon stayed more or less at 30%, while that living on the Hong Kong Island went down by more than three percentage points to around 15%.
To enable Hong Kong to develop better and more efficiently, we need to change our mindset and adopt a forward-looking planning approach, with a view to better rationalising the spatial layout and infrastructure facilities, so that new development areas can better meet the housing and living needs of our residents. A transport network connecting various parts of Hong Kong would not only facilitate daily trips, but also help accelerate industrial and commercial developments and unleash the development potential of land along the network.
Currently, there are about 270 kilometers of railways in Hong Kong, covering areas inhabited by around 70% of the population. Railway is the backbone of Hong Kong’s transport network. As the construction of new railways takes time, we need to plan ahead to implement the railway projects in a timely manner. This can facilitate activities of the general public as well as the industrial and commercial sectors in the new development areas; and at the same time, enhance the connectivity of the entire transport system of Hong Kong, making it more accessible and convenient, and offering more options and flexibility to the general public and businesses.
The ground breaking ceremony for Tung Chung Line Extension was held last week. This is the first railway project with construction commencing under the current-term Government. It also marks a new stage of the Tung Chung New Town Extension (TCNTE) Project. Construction of two railway stations, including Tung Chung East and Tung Chung West, is expected to be completed by the end of 2029. Upon their commissioning, the journey time between Tung Chung East and Central will be shortened by 21 minutes. In addition to making travel more convenient, this will also bring huge economic benefits.
TCNTE development will provide 62 000 new flats to accommodate an additional population of 180 000. By then, the whole Tung Chung area will have a population of about 300 000. Various supporting recreation, education and community facilities, including post-secondary education institution, will be provided in the development. The development will also provide considerable commercial floor areas for office and hotel uses, creating 40 000 job opportunities for residents in the district. The implementation of TCL Extension is therefore pivotal to the full-fletched development of TCNTE.
Apart from this project, the current-term Government will also make every effort to enhance the transport network in the New Territories in the coming few years, with a view to facilitating the overall development of Hong Kong, including the Northern Metropolis. There will be three projects in the New Territories West, namely Oyster Bay Station, Tuen Mun South Extension and Hung Shui Kiu Station; and for the New Territories East, there will be Kwu Tung Station under the first phase of the Northern Link. Construction for these projects will commence within this year and next year accordingly. They are expected to unleash the development potential of the land along the railway lines and create greater capacity.
For example, although Kwu Tung Station and Hung Shui Kiu Station are just addition of new stations along existing railway lines, they are both important transport nodes in the Northern Metropolis.
Currently, the Kwu Tung North/Fanling North and Hung Shui Kiu areas are mainly occupied by low-density domestic dwellings, as well as brownfield operations such as recycling yards, container storage, etc. Local transportation in these areas mainly relies on road connections with limited capacity, which would not be sufficient to accommodate the future additional population of 226 000 and 176 000 in these two New Development Areas respectively. Therefore, the two railway stations will play an important role in triggering the development of these two areas.
Indeed, town planning for the Kwu Tung North New Development Area is centred around Kwu Tung Station, which will become the main public transport hub in the area. High density residential developments will be built around the railway station so that the majority of residents can access the station within a relatively short walking distance. Upon commissioning of the station, compared with existing road-based transport, the journey time from Kwu Tung North to Sheung Shui Station can be greatly shortened from 15 minutes to about 3 minutes.
The Hung Shui Kiu Station, which is to be built between Tin Shui Wai Station and Siu Hong Station on the Tuen Ma Line, has similar functions and goals. A public transport interchange and an environmentally friendly transport services system will be taken forward near Hung Shui Kiu Station to facilitate interchanges to other transport modes. Upon commissioning of the Hung Shui Kiu Station, travelling from the station to Exhibition Centre Station and Admiralty Station, via the Tuen Ma Line and the East Rail Line cross-harbour extension, would take around 41 minutes and 43 minutes respectively. More importantly, since Hung Shui Kiu is geographically close to Qianhai, Shenzhen, space for expansion of Hung Shui Kiu Station has been reserved to allow for connection to the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Rail Link (Hung Shui Kiu - Qianhai). The entire railway map will greatly enhance the connectivity between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and promote the efficient flow of goods and people between the two cities. Together with the planning of other road networks, it will provide a crucial transport and logistics route for cross-boundary cargo to connect to the airport and container terminals. From dots to lines, the efficiency of people and cargo flows in the entire region will be greatly enhanced.
The Oyster Bay Station and the Tuen Mun South Extension will help increase land and housing supply. The development project at the depot site of Oyster Bay will provide about 20 000 housing units, of which around half will be public housing units. It will become a new community well fitted with community facilities. Phase 1 of the project with a total of around 6 000 public and private housing units is expected to be completed with population intake from 2030 onwards. Upon commissioning of Oyster Bay Station, travelling from the station to Hong Kong Station and Tung Chung Station will take around 28 minutes and 4 minutes respectively. Regarding the 2.4-kilometre long Tuen Mun South Extension Line, it will extend southward from the existing Tuen Mun Station to the Tuen Mun Ferry Terminal area, and an intermediate station will be constructed at Tuen Mun Area 16. This railway alignment will help improve the railway services for the community to the south of Tuen Mun town centre. Better transportation connections will not only benefit residents, but also help unleash the housing supply potential of the land in the area.
Whether it is district-based or territory-wide planning and development, our primary consideration is to better facilitate daily commuting, employment, commercial and industrial activities as well as economic development. The infrastructure-led approach will allow Hong Kong to develop faster and in a more efficient and sustainable manner, which will in turn bring greater benefits to our people.
May 28, 2023
