North Lantau New Town

Tung Chung New Town
東涌新市鎮
Nickname: 
Tung Chung
Map
Country People's Republic of China
Special administrative region Hong Kong
DistrictIslands District
Area
 • City25 km2 (10 sq mi)
Population
 (2018)
 • City130,000
 • Density9,639/km2 (24,960/sq mi)
 • Urban
78,000
Websitewww.districtcouncils.gov.hk/island/tc
Mean solar time   UTC+08
North Lantau New Town
Traditional Chinese北大嶼山新市鎮
Simplified Chinese北大屿山新市镇
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinBěi Dàyǔshān Xīnshìzhèn
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationBāk daaih yùh sāan sān síh jan
JyutpingBak1 daai6 jyu4 saan1 san1 si5 yan3

North Lantau New Town is the newest of the nine new towns in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, located on the northern coast of the Lantau Island in the New Territories. It covers Tung Chung, Tai Ho Wan, Siu Ho Wan, other parts of northeast Lantau Island, and the reclaimed land along the coast between them.[1] It is the only new town in the Islands District and the youngest new town in Hong Kong. As the commercial, residential and community facilities in the New Town are concentrated in Tung Chung, it has been renamed Tung Chung New Town in recent official government documents.[2]

The development of North Lantau was first proposed in the late 1970s when the government proposed to build a new airport at Chek Lap Kok. In the North Lantau Development Investigation Study published in 1983, the idea of building a new town of nearly 300,000 people in Tung Chung and Tai Ho along the coast of North Lantau was proposed.[3]

Future development

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According to the current planning, Tung Chung New Town will have a total area of 830 hectares and the population is planned to reach 280,000 by 2030 when the development is fully completed.[4]

As a tourism consumption area

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On 20 April 2012, the former deputy director of the Chief Executive-elect's Competition and Election Office, Mr. Ho Wing-him, stated that Leung Chun-ying planned to transform Tung Chung and Tin Shui Wai after taking office, and would then plan to build hotels and shopping malls and other consumer venues in Tung Chung, mainly to attract visitors to Hong Kong. As Tung Chung has a population of only 100,000, there is still plenty of room for development, and the proximity to the Hong Kong International Airport and AsiaWorld-Expo has a large number of tourists passing through.[5]

In the Tung Chung New Town expansion plan, the proposed Tung Chung East Railway Station will become a regional business center. With the commercial development above the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge and the Hong Kong SkyCity, more tourists will be attracted to Hong Kong and the huge economic potential of North Lantau would be released.[6][7]

Tung Chung New Town Expansion Plan

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Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge opened in October 2018, a large number of tourists come to Tung Chung for shopping every Sunday, and residents in the area complain that too many tourists affect their lives

With a current population of 105,000, the study conducted by the Planning Department and the Civil Engineering and Development Department identified Tung Chung as a potential new town of 220,000 people. The Tung Chung New Town Expansion Plan would examine the development potential and opportunities of Tung Chung, identify the scale of expansion of Tung Chung New Town and improve community and regional facilities.[8]

A three-stage public engagement exercise was launched by the Planning Department and the Civil Engineering and Development Department, with the first stage ending on 12 August of the same year,[9] and the views collected will be used to formulate a preliminary outline development plan.[10]

On 17 February 2017, the Chief Executive in Council approved the draft outline zoning plans for Tung Chung East and Tung Chung West.[11][12][13]

On 5 February 2018, the Tung Chung New Town Extension Project was launched, in which 130 hectares of land will be reclaimed and the first phase of reclamation is expected to be completed in 2020. The first phase of reclamation is expected to be completed by 2020. Upon completion, it will be able to accommodate an additional 140,000 people.[14] This is the first reclaimed land for a new town expansion project after the Tseung Kwan O South reclamation in 2003 and the completion of the final phase of reclamation in Tung Chung in the same year.[15]

Siu Ho Wan reclamation

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In his 2016 policy address, then Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said he would study the 30-hectare Siu Ho Wan depot above the MTR for residential development. The MTRCL commissioned a consultancy study, and the preliminary development proposal released in July 2017 indicated that up to 108 residential blocks could be built above the depot, providing 14,000 dwellings and a 320,000-square-foot shopping mall.[16] The environmental assessment report for this development was approved with conditions on 29 November 2017, and the statutory planning process of the Town Planning Board is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2018.

Residential complexes on the west bank of Tung Chung, arranged in an arc along the North Lantau Highway (photographed in 2007)

Meanwhile, Siu Ho Wan was listed as one of the five proposed near-shore reclamation sites during the 2013 Stage 2 Public Engagement for Land Supply Enhancement. The government-commissioned consultant released a preliminary development proposal in early January 2018, proposing to shape the reclaimed land into a high quality of life and knowledge district with low-density residential and educational facilities.[17]

By 2019, according to the MTR property director, Tang Chi-fai, private and subsidized housing will be provided above the Siu Ho Wan depot, with a total of 14,000 units. It will also provide community facilities such as a shopping mall, school and kindergarten with an area of about 300,000 square feet. The project requires the relocation of the existing depot and the construction of a brand new Siu Ho Wan station, which is considered to be very difficult to develop and requires further discussion with the government on the details, which is expected to take 10 years to develop.[18]

Public market

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Tung Chung residents have been fighting for public markets for years.[19] There are four markets in the district, of which three, namely Fu Tung, Yat Tung and Man Tung, are outsourced by Link Management, while the remaining one is outsourced by the Housing Department. In order to save money, many people in the district will let their elderly buy groceries from public markets in Tsing Yi or Tsuen Wan.[20] However, there are yet still difficulties in building more public markets in Tung Chung.

Community issues

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Tung Chung Post Office

The original plan underestimated the population growth of Tung Chung and relied too much on the population ratios of the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG), resulting in a serious shortage of public community facilities in the Tung Chung New Town. In his 2006-2007 Policy address, former Chief Executive Donald Tsang pledged to build a library, sports centre, swimming pool and other leisure facilities in Tung Chung, and to enhance the planning and coordination of community support facilities. These facilities were completed between 2009 and 2011.[21][22][23] However, most of the community facilities are concentrated in Tung Chung Town Center and Tung Chung North, which are mainly private residential areas, and are still inconvenient to residents of Yat Tung Estate, which is located in the western part of Tung Chung.[24]

Although the North Lantau Hospital was approved for construction in 2009 and opened in September 2013, many facilities have not yet been opened, resulting in a waste of resources and the need for some residents to continue to travel long distances to seek treatment at Princess Margaret Hospital.[25]

Tung Chung does not have any public markets planned, only markets attached to public housing estates, and with the lack of competition and under the management of Link REIT, Tung Chung tends to have one of the highest prices in Hong Kong.[26] In May 2016, the Yat Tung Market, which was contracted out by Link to the Kin Wah Group, was under renovation. Many residents could not bear the years of monopoly and were worried that prices would be further pushed up, so in 2016, residents went out of their way to organize a market with Eddie Chu, and at one point clashed with Link's security and outsourced contractors.[27] The then Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying stated in his 2017 policy address that he would study the possibility of allocating land for a public market in the Tung Chung Development Area, but concern groups argued that the market would take more than 10 years to complete, making it difficult to meet the immediate needs of residents.[28]

The Tung Chung Municipal Building under construction, located in Tung Chung District 17

According to the 2011 census, Tung Chung had a population of 115,000, but only 6,000 residents were able to work in the Lantau area. Although there are many job opportunities in the surrounding areas of Tung Chung, such as the airport and Hong Kong Disneyland, the low employment rate in the area is mainly due to the fact that the types and nature of jobs do not match the needs of the residents. Some groups have advocated for Tung Chung to develop a "bridgehead economy",[29] and to take advantage of the economic opportunities of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. However, the employment opportunities created by the bridgehead economy are still mainly in the retail, catering, and tourism hospitality industries, which have limited effect on improving the employment situation in Tung Chung.[30]

The pollution problem in Tung Chung has become increasingly serious since 2010; in the first five months of 2017 alone, Tung Chung recorded 26 hours of Very High or Severe Health Risk Levels of 10 or 10+ in the Air Quality Health Index, and 42 days in 2016 when Tung Chung was in the top three in terms of health risk.[31] With the opening of the HZMB in the second half of 2018 and the construction of a third runway, as well as the rapid urbanization in Tung Chung, many people expect the air quality in Tung Chung to deteriorate further.

After the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge in October 2018, a large number of tourists came to Tung Chung every Sunday for shopping. Residents in the area complained about the excessive number of tourists and the noise that affected their lives, and demanded that bus stops be moved away from residential areas. The shopping mall is crowded, the cafes and fast food restaurants are full, and the hygiene of the toilets has become bad. Residents said that some goods had been snapped up by tourists, affecting people's livelihood, and that Tung Chung had "fallen".[32][33] On 11 November, a campaign was launched called "Reclaim Tung Chung" to reduce the impact of excessive tourists on people's livelihood.[34][35]

References

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  1. ^ Hong Kong Annual Report 1997 - Airport Core Programme (香港年報1997－機場核心計劃)
  2. ^ "土木工程拓展署東涌新市鎮簡介". Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  3. ^ "掠奪大嶼解構包 大嶼發展全面睇". 守護大嶼聯盟. Archived from the original on 7 March 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  4. ^ 香港年報1997－土地、公共工程和公用事務
  5. ^ "梁振英擬改造東涌天水圍成旅客消費區". Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  6. ^ 《「橋頭島」建地下城 總商業面績相當五ifc商場》 Archived 2021-01-17 at the Wayback Machine 星島日報，2014年2月17日
  7. ^ 《機場北商業區 建全港最大商場》 Archived 2018-02-20 at the Wayback Machine 星島日報，2015年5月9日
  8. ^ "政府研究擴大東涌發展　增房屋供應". Archived from the original on 8 July 2012.
  9. ^ "政府擬擴展東涌新市鎮　人口增至22萬". Archived from the original on 11 July 2012.
  10. ^ "填海闢休耕地 增加房屋供應 東涌研擴展280公頃市鎮". 星島日報. 13 June 2012. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  11. ^ "東涌谷分區計劃大綱草圖獲核准". 政府新聞處. 17 February 2017. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  12. ^ "東涌擴展區分區計劃大綱草圖獲核准". 政府新聞處. 17 February 2017. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  13. ^ "東涌市中心地區分區計劃大綱草圖獲核准". 政府新聞處. 17 February 2017. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  14. ^ 甄挺良 (5 February 2018). "東涌新市鎮填海動工　陳茂波：標誌政府增加土地決心". 香港01. Archived from the original on 12 September 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  15. ^ 黃偉綸 (29 April 2018). "局長隨筆：增闢土地　你我抉擇". Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  16. ^ 《小蠔灣車廠建108幢住宅 涉1.4萬伙 最快2023年動工興建》 Archived 2021-06-22 at the Wayback Machine 香港經濟日報，2017年7月17日
  17. ^ 《小蠔灣倡打造為高質生活知識區　可住近萬人》 Archived 2021-01-24 at the Wayback Machine 東方日報，2018年1月7日
  18. ^ "東涌新街市，幾時起？喺邊起？". Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  19. ^ "東涌居民長年捱貴餸　4餸1湯要$600　荃灣豬肉平3成　街坊：幾時有公營街市？". i-Cable News. 6 September 2022.
  20. ^ "東涌天水圍街市買餸貴 居民焗跨區". Oriental Daily.
  21. ^ "東涌醫院定新址 面積5公頃 最快09年建成". 明報. 15 June 2004. Archived from the original on 2 July 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  22. ^ "立法會民政事務委員會－大嶼山東涌第17區體育館、社區會堂兼圖書館" (PDF). 10 March 2006. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2007.
  23. ^ "東涌泳池2011年竣工". 香港政府新聞網. 5 July 2006. Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  24. ^ 黃妍萍 (1 February 2017). "【休憩難】窮人公園特別少？東涌私樓區人均設施多屋邨近倍". 香港01. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  25. ^ "北大嶼山醫院　設備延3年未用". 香港經濟日報. 23 November 2017. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  26. ^ "東涌居民選擇少捱貴餸 街市物價高灣仔3成". 蘋果日報. 21 December 2015. Archived from the original on 19 May 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  27. ^ "朱凱廸反低潮 由屋邨到立法會 由反領展到民主自決". 壹週plus. 3 September 2016. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  28. ^ "東涌　洪水橋　增公眾街市". 蘋果日報. 19 January 2017. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  29. ^ "港珠澳大橋落成後發揮「橋頭」經濟效益 政府冀加快大嶼山發展". 新報. 22 November 2013. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  30. ^ 黎廣德 (16 April 2014). "「橋頭經濟」暴露小農社會思維". 香港獨立媒體. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  31. ^ "雲少污染勁 屯門元朗東涌　空氣最差". 蘋果日報. 28 December 2016. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  32. ^ "【港珠澳大橋】出東涌巴士排長龍 區議員指噪音擾民". 星島日報. 4 November 2018. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  33. ^ "港珠澳大橋3萬大軍壓境東涌恐怖淪陷　廁所清潔工：地上有屎有尿". 香港經濟日報. 4 November 2018. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  34. ^ 張雅婷. 傘後組織周日「光復東涌」：反黑工導遊不針對旅客 Archived 2018-11-11 at the Wayback Machine 香港01. 9 November 2018.
  35. ^ 本土派團體擬明發動「光復東涌」 Archived 2018-11-11 at the Wayback Machine 東方日報. 2018年11月10日.
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22°17′34″N 113°57′24″E / 22.2927°N 113.9566°E / 22.2927; 113.9566

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