Policy Address
Increasing Land Supply for Housing
30. At present, a number of development projects planned or under planning in the Northern Metropolis are estimated to provide about 350 000 residential units. An additional 600 hectares of land or so could be developed within the Northern Metropolis for residential and industry purposes, with an estimated provision of about 165 000 to 186 000 residential units. Upon the full development of the entire Northern Metropolis, a total of 905 000 to 926 000 residential units, including the existing 390 000 residential units in Yuen Long District and North District, will be available to accommodate a population of about 2.5 million. The total number of jobs in the Metropolis will increase substantially from 116 000 at present to about 650 000, including 150 000 I&T-related jobs.
Strengthening the Implementation Mechanism
31. To effectively implement the Development Strategy for the Northern Metropolis, the HKSAR Government must strengthen high-level steer, promote collaboration across bureaux and departments, formulate performance indicators for monitoring purposes, and work closely with the Shenzhen Municipal Government to take forward the relevant projects together. Our next step is to deliberate the details of the implementation mechanism. A possible option will be to create a Deputy Secretary of Department post in the next-term Government to steer large-scale regional developments such as the Northern Metropolis and the Lantau Tomorrow Vision.
