The Future of Hong Kong

　　Infrastructure Projects for the 21st Century

　　An efficient and reliable infrastructure has played a key role in maintaining Hong Kong as a leading trade, finance, business and tourism centre in the region. Infrastructure development enables the city to meet demands arising from population growth and help support economic and trade development.

　　The HKSAR Government continues to invest heavily in capital works projects. It plans to spend under the Capital Works Programme an average of $29 billion (US$3.7 billion) per year for the next five years.

　　Railway Development

　　Following the commissioning of West Rail in December 2003, four new railways are scheduled for completion between 2004 and 2007. Both the Tsim Sha Tsui Extension, which will provide a second rail interchange between the KCR and the MTR systems, and the Ma On Shan Rail, which will connect new towns in the eastern parts of Hong Kong with the urban areas, will be completed by 2004. The Penny's Bay Rail Link connecting Sunny Bay with Disneyland on Lantau Island is expected to be completed in 2005. A new rail passenger boundary crossing at Lok Ma Chau connecting Huanggang in Shenzhen is expected to be completed before mid-2007.

　　The "Railway Development Strategy 2000" provides a blueprint for Hong Kong's rail network expansion up to roughly 2016. This involves a total investment of some $100 billion to complete a Port Rail Line for freight and five new passenger rail projects: the Kowloon Southern Link (KSL), Shatin to Central Link (SCL), Island Line Extensions (ILE), Northern Link (NOL), and Regional Express Line (REL). Upon their completion, Hong Kong's rail network will expand by some 40 per cent to more than 250 kilometers. The railways' share of the public transport system will be boosted from 30 per cent to about 40 per cent.

　　New Urban Development

　　The West Kowloon Reclamation project was completed in 2003. The reclamation has provided about 340 hectares of land to house a planned population of about 190,000. At the southern tip of the reclamation, another major development proposal is the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), which is currently under active planning. The intention is to develop the area into an arts, cultural, commercial and entertainment district with a distinctive identity. The government has invited proposals internationally for development of the WKCD.

　　The Outline Zoning Plan to guide redevelopment of the former Kai Tak Airport site was approved in June 2002. In view of a recent court ruling on reclamation in Victoria Harbor, a comprehensive review of the current development scheme will be carried out to ensure its compliance with the legal requirements. The review, which covers the planning and engineering aspects, is expected to take two years. It will include extensive public involvement to gauge the community's wishes for this major waterfront site and to help build public consensus on revising the development scheme.