Policy Address
VII. Building a Liveable City
Development and Conservation
107. There is no conflict between increasing land supply and building a quality living environment. In fact, with sufficient new land supply, we will be better placed to retain our country parks, preserve the natural and cultural heritages, and address the overcrowding problems in old urban areas. During my tenure as the Secretary for Development, I have strived to promote urban development by attaching importance to both development and conservation so that Hong Kong people and visitors can enjoy the hustle and bustle of our city and harbour, and stroll in the narrow streets of our old urban areas.
Urban Development
108. A decade ago, the Government implemented two major revitalisation initiatives, i.e. Conserving Central and Energizing Kowloon East using a district-based development model. To date, a number of historic building revitalisation projects under Conserving Central have been completed, including the Tai Kwun – Centre for Heritage and Arts which received the Award of Excellence, the top honour in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. The Energizing Kowloon East initiative has successfully transformed areas in Kwun Tong, Kowloon Bay and Kai Tak into the second core business district in Hong Kong. The commercial gross floor area in the districts has increased by 70% to 2.9 million square metres at present, and will further increase to about 3.5 million square metres in two years, making it comparable in scale to the core business district in Central.
