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Following is the speech by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, at the Hong Kong Institute of Planners Annual Dinner tonight (December 5):
President (Raymond) Lee, Secretary Chan (Paul Chan, Secretary for Development), distinguished guests, distinguished planners, ladies and gentlemen,
Good evening everybody. It is my pleasure to be invited to join the 34th anniversary dinner of the Hong Kong Institute of Planners (HKIP) tonight.
I have always admired the planning profession for what it can do to transform our cityscape. Many of you may not know that in the 1980s, I had for a while entertained the idea of enrolling on the Master of Urban Planning programme at the University of Hong Kong. If I had indeed done so, life would not have been the same for me.
HKIP has been a close working partner of the Government for more than three decades. Over the years it has stayed committed to its objective of promoting and safeguarding development and the environment in Hong Kong in the best interests of our community. This is indeed a shared mission of all town planners. I can feel this sense of mission and passion in the many encounters I had with Planners both within the Government (like KK Ling (Director of Planning) and Raymond Lee (Head of Energizing Kowloon East)) and outside the Government, for instance, those I have exchanged views with during the public consultation on the Long Term Housing Strategy in the past three months.
The theme of tonight's dinner is "Dawning Moment"ˇV the critical brink of time awaiting the first glimpse of light and a new day, and of course new life. This is a most befitting theme for the current state of our great city as we embrace changes and uncertainties, and chart a new course towards the future. We are at a dividing line of some kind, akin to the 1970s when our predecessors embarked on modernisation and social and planning reforms that led to the rise of Hong Kong as one of the Four Little Dragons.
Many changes and uncertainties do lie ahead of us. Some of them, I understand, relate to the perceived dilemma between development and quality of life in Hong Kong. In this respect, land use planning, housing and transport planning are all closely linked.
In Hong Kong, planning is a most challenging task because within limited space, we have to cater for the residential, mobility, economic and environmental needs and aspirations of our urban population. We have also to respond to the needs of our growing numbers of visitors, transients and migrants, especially from the Mainland. Our transport policy aims at "moving millions" both within the city and around the region. Our housing policy aims at "accommodating millions" in tandem with demographic changes and rising expectations.
I have said a lot about housing over the past few months in the Long Term Housing Strategy consultation exercise. Tonight, I would focus on transport.
We all know that transport takes up a significant amount of land resources. 21.1% of the built area of Hong Kong is used for transport purposes, as compared with 28.7% in housing. We need land for roads, flyovers, car parks, railways, bus termini, airport, port facilities, ferry piers and of course, pedestrian walkways as well. This is a tall order. But we are quite economical in this regard if we take our population into account. Tribute to both our urban and transport planners, some 90% of our daily commuter trips are on public transport. This is an extraordinarily high percentage in the world!
Visiting transport ministers from other countries and cities often ask me how we could achieve this. I told them that we have a clear policy direction of better integration of transport and land use planning and residential development, and using railways as the backbone of our passenger transport system. We have planned it well so that by and large many residents live within walking distance of a public transport node, and we make it as convenient as possible for them to walk between home and public transport stops.
We also provide good public transport interchange and multi-modal accessibility with a good range of transport choices. For those living farther away, we have a good system of feeder services like minibuses. And taxis are generally affordable by international standards.
This policy emphasis was affirmed in 1999 as part of Hong Kong's transport strategy after the completion of the Third Comprehensive Transport Study. It still serves Hong Kong well. Of course the formulation of transport policy, like land use policy, is an iterative and continuous process. The Government needs to take into account the community's needs and aspirations, and a host of factors such as resources, population growth and the environment. After the completion of the Railway Development Strategy for the period beyond 2020, we will embark on a more comprehensive review of our overall public transport layout and strategy.
When I joined the Government last year, I reflected upon these issues ˇV what does our community at large aspire for today? What challenges do we confront in Hong Kong's transport infrastructure and its future development?
As I have shared with colleagues in my Bureau, my vision coming out of this reflection can be summarised by three key words ˇVconnectivity, mobility and livability.
Hong Kong is well connected with the Mainland and the world through our first-class airport, road and rail networks and the port. We should continue to work hard to enhance this external connectivity, especially when the demand of cross-boundary traffic keeps rising, and the Hong Kong International Airport's existing two-runway system is expected to reach its capacity in a few years.
Mega-projects like the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, and the planning of the third runway for our airport to double its capacity are under progress. That is connectivity in one aspect.
When these new links come to fruition, they will spur changes in traffic patterns, and in turn the locations and activity levels of commercial and residential nodes, offering both new opportunities as well as presenting further challenges. Facing a globalising and increasingly competitive world, Hong Kong must not be complacent. We must stay globally connected and maintain our regional hub status to ensure our economic lifelines are not blocked.
For connectivity within our city, I would refer as mobility. I am a supporter of a walkable city. I would like to see that walking becomes a common and enjoyable way to commute. But the physical layout of our city, coupled with a dense population, means that we must also rely on conveniently accessible public transport. We should go for greener mass transit and rely less on private cars. We are doing well compared to Shanghai and Singapore, for example. Walkability and mass transit could complement each other, with good intermodal connectivity, so that pedestrians will also be able to move around in a safe and comfortable environment.
In planning New Development Areas, such as Kwu Tong North, our planners seek to provide continuous and landscaped walkways to create a pleasant walking environment, thus better livability. We would not wish to see gated communities linked only by vehicular access. Making it easy for people to connect by the most natural way, that is, through strolling on streets, riverside, or the harbourfront, strengthens the social bonds and sense of belonging.
Our new Universal Accessibility Programme helps in particular the elderly and the disabled, by retrofitting barrier-free access facilities such as lifts to existing public walkways.
These days, the call for a more friendly environment for cyclists is getting stronger, echoing a growing megatrend also found in many other big cities.
Cycling is certainly an emission-free (if we do not count the carbon dioxide generated by a panting cyclist!) and healthy option of commuting relatively short distances. Our road traffic, however, is still heavy and busy especially in congested urban areas. It is not easy to spare spaces for developing tracks dedicated to cycling. But new towns in the New Territories and New Development Areas may have better conditions for using bicycles for short-distance travel.
Given the increasing popularity of cycling, the Transport and Housing Bureau is exploring ways to improve and enhance the existing policy and measures in the formulation of a cycling policy. I am, however, mindful of a 44% increase in cycling accidents from 2009 to 2012, and the possibility of increasing encounters and conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists, and between cyclists and vehicle drivers. Some foresight in planning will help, but road safety education is also important.
Ladies and gentlemen, I hope what I have said might sparkle some ideas about how Hong Kong can become more mobile and livable. As town planners, you have a great role to play to help make things come true, despite all the uncertainties and changes we will face together. With this remark, I wish you all good health and a happy evening. Thank you.
Ends/Thursday, December 5, 2013
Issued at HKT 21:51
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