W ith the opening of Chek Lap Kok Airport, the Hong Kong International Airport in Kowloon City has fulfilled its last mission: to assist in the smooth relocation of one airport to the other. After the operation of Kai Tak Airport ended, South East Kowloon inherits an exciting piece of prime waterfront real estate offering enormous development potential. Together with the planned reclamation of Kowloon Bay and the restructuring of urban hinterland, a massive 940 hectares of land is acquired (Territory Development Department of the HKSAR, 1998). The use of this extensive land has caused much debates. Various redevelopment proposals of the vacated site have been suggested in recent years. Some people argue that the district should be developed for residential purposes whereas others advocate full commercial development (Lee, 1995). The objectives of this essay are to analyze different land uses in the light of Hong Kong’s needs and to express the author's opinion about how to redevelop the site.W ith a population of 6.7 million (Census and Statistics Department of the HKSAR, 1998), Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places in the world. Since a large portion of land is uninhabited islands or mountainous terrain, with 40% of the land preserved as country parks, the result is that 80% of the people live on 8% of total land (Lands Department of the HKSAR, 1998). This increases the demand for a considerable amount of vertical living arrangements for residential development. According to the Census and Statistics Department, the population growth in the past ten years had an average increase of 1.7% and the estimated population in the territory will exceed 8 million at the beginning of the next millennium. Due to the increasing demand for land, sufficient land has to be supplied to keep up with the growing population by building high-rise public and private housing.E conomic factor is another point for consideration. In the last two decades, the Government has managed to maintain an average annual economic growth of 7%. Over the past 10 years, the per-capita income of Hong Kong rose 5.6% on an average annual basis, far surpassing the 0.9% average growth rate in the world. In 1997, the per-capita GDP reached US$26,601, outstripping Britain, Canada and Australia (HKSAR, 1998). This increase in economic growth has put much pressure on the commercial land market, as there was little supply to the market in the Central Business District in the past few years (HKSAR, 1997 & 1998). Although there is a slump in the office rent due to the Asian Financial Crisis, the demand for commercial land is still increasing. In order to maintain Hong Kong as an international trade, shipping, information and financial centre and to promote its economic development, more commercial land should be provided.T he local industry also plays an important role in the economy. It can be categorized into two groups: traditional industry and high technology industry. The traditional industries in Hong Kong include clothing and textiles, electrical and electronic products, metal products, machinery equipment and plastic products (British Columbia, 1994). As land price and labour cost have become a significant part of the production cost, many businessmen, who would like to maximize profit, move their factories to Mainland China, where both land and labour cost are lower. Since China has started to introduce reform and opened to the outside world in 1979, the relation between the economic development of China and Hong Kong became closer and closer. Subsequently, many businessmen invested a large sum of money in China. This move reduces the local demand for industrial land; thus it is not necessary to provide much land on the traditional industries (McKenzie, 1996).T he high technology industry has been developed in Hong Kong since the 90’s (Tsang, 1995). According to the Policy Address released by the Chief Executive in 1998, "[We have to] promote innovation and improved technology in manufacturing and service industries, to maximize Hong Kong's access to high-tech products, to develop a world class support infrastructure for these industries and ? ". With the economy shifting from a low-wage and labour-intensive production to high value-added and knowledge-based activities, it is imperative to upgrade the infrastructure and strengthen the support for promoting innovation and technology in the existing traditional industries. More resources, such as high performance computers, electronic equipment and tele-communication devices, should be distributed to high-tech industries. These development results in better methods of quality control, production packaging, marketing and distribution, which are essential for increasing the added value, productivity and competitiveness of the traditional industries in the 21st century. Therefore, more land has to be provided for high-tech industries development.T his essay has investigated the present situation of Hong Kong and what it needs in the future. Now, I would like to make some points on the airport redevelopment project. This extensive area should not be developed for only one purpose. The reason is that all three aspects that we have discussed -- residential, commercial and industrial developments -- are essential to meet the future demands for economic growth and functional needs of the territory. Mixed land use should be adopted and a balance development can thus be achieved.I am not, however, in favour of these three developments being the only forms of land uses in the Kai Tak district. Recreational and cultural facilities should also be provided to satisfy the social needs and to give a pleasant environment for the residents. Area allocated to each land use should be in proportion with its importance. In order to work out this proportion, the Government should consult experts and professionals to analyze the effects of these developments on the community. No matter how the future development of Kai Tak Airport is, the interest of Hong Kong is the most important issue.
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