Page 19 - Town Planning Board Report 2015-2017

Part 2 Highlights of 2015-2017 Town Planning Board Report 2015 - 2017 17

Part 2

Highlights of

2015-2017

Reviewing Land Use and Increasing
Development Intensity

It is the Government’s continuous effort to supply land to meet Hong Kong’s
continued housing demand as well as other development needs. The most
immediate and effective way to augment housing land supply in the short to medium
term is to make optimal use of the developed areas in the existing urban areas and
new towns, as well as nearby land in the vicinity of existing infrastructures, through
land use reviews and increasing development intensity where planning terms
permit.

Land Use Reviews
Under the multi-pronged approach to increase land supply, the Government
had carried out a number of land use reviews in the “Government, Institution or
Community” (“G/IC”), “Open Space” (“O”) and “Green Belt” (“GB”) zones with a
view to optimising the use of land resources. The reviews covered the government
land currently vacant, under short-term tenancies or different short-term uses, as
well as with no development plan. Land with development potential was usually in
the fringe of the built-up areas, adjacent to existing roads and other infrastructures,
and with relatively low conservation value and buffering effect.

From 2015 to 2017, a total of 44 sites (about 95 ha) were approved by the Board for
rezoning to residential use (including 12 “G/IC”, 10 “O” and 22 “GB” sites) with the
provision of about 60,700 flats in total.

In examining the suitability of a site for housing or other developments, the Board
had adopted a holistic approach to consider various relevant factors, including site
suitability, the need and development programme of the originally planned use,
availability of alternative sites, the location and size of the site, local characteristics,
various impacts including traffic, environment, air ventilation, ecology,
infrastructures, urban design and landscape, etc., as well as provision of open
space, recreational and community facilities in the district.