The HKIUD Public Affairs Committee’s views on the "Hung Shui Kiu New Development Area Planning and Engineering Study” Stage 3 Community Engagement

1. Although the Study states that “The NDA .. .. .. being strategically located in the NWNT, it is positioned as a “Regional Economic and Civic Hub” for the NWNT apart from being a major source of housing land supply in HK in the medium to long term … ..” and etc., the proposals, as shown in the Recommended Outline Development Plan (RODP) appear to fall short of the expectations.
2. The location is at the confluence of three strategic links (linking Tuen Mun and Chek Lap Kok airport at the southwest end, the Main Urban Area (MUA) via Sham Tseng at the southeastern end, and linking with Shekou and Qianhai of Shenzhen at the northern end), and it is also situated between three new towns (namely, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai). The significance of this location is expected to deserve an even higher order in Western NT, if it is compared to the role of Shatin located along the East Rail, as a regional centre between the eastern part of the NT and the MUA. In a nutshell, both the scale and form of the HSK NDA as shown appear to be more like a “district” centre than a regional one. The rather ambiguous function and form of the “Regional Plaza” is also an issue that may need to be further deliberated.
3. It is understood that whilst the total NDA area is some 714 ha. and the Development Area is only 442 ha. (87 ha. are for Residential and Commercial uses), out of the 272 ha. of “Others”, 151 ha. are “Retained Existing / Committed Developments (including villages)”.  These constraints are understood, but this phenomenon has resulted in the rather peculiar urban form overall since there is a large tract of V zone in the middle separating the eastern and the western development clusters by some 1 km. apart. The eastern cluster would thereby logically be identified as an extension to the TSW New Town. The R(2) density zoning in the “Riverine and Village Neighbourhood” (DCA1) Area is fine as it would provide a gradual stepping down from the TSW high-density high-rise built form towards the lower rise village cluster. However, the “Regional Economic and Civic Hub”(DCA 4) is quite unrelated to it. The latter is also separated from the “District Commercial Node” (DCA 5) by some 1 km by Shek Po Tsuen and San Lee Uk Tsuen, whereas the Regional Open Space (RO) in between, has its narrowest point at the Riverside Promenade even taken up by a West Rail Link Emergency Access Point (WRL-EAP). It is considered that a more detailed examination be made on strengthening the tie between the east and the west of this NDA.
4. .The provision of two “nodes” and lack of a “centre” is ambiguous in the Urban Design Framework. Whilst several “gateways” are indicated in the Framework, no “gateway” has been shown for people coming from the Yuen Long Highway and Hung Tin Road from the south.
5. The “R3*” site on the RODP is zoned R(B)2 on the current Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) and has a Plot Ratio of only 1.26, and restriction of building height to 21m, and the OZP states that it is meant for “sub-urban development”.  The RODP acknowledges these “land use and development intensity based on the provisions in current OZPs” without making any proposal for up-zoning in the future. The question is : Are such “sub-urban” form of developments still relevant in the “HUB” upon their redevelopment in future ?
6. It is noted that some villages south of HSK (Chung Uk Tsuen and Nai Wai etc.) demand “No Removal, No Demolition” and they are now excluded from the NDA plan. They are probably also outwith the “Yuen Long South” development study area.
7. It is not just a matter of leaving the ”V” zones untouched, or a matter of how the masses and interface of the new developments would blend in with the adjacent village settlements or not that need to be addressed. Under the Small House Policy and the OZP, the ground floor of the village houses could be used for certain non-domestic uses such as eating places and shops without application. When the nearby sites are developed, commercial uses would likely spread among these villages as well, resulting in substantial changes and loss of the indigenous character and cumulative traffic and environmental impacts. There may be a mis-match in the capacity and timing in the planned roads, services, parking facilities, fire safety, environmental services, etc. in the adjoining development sites. This eventuality must be anticipated and catered for in the planning stage.
8. As a corollary, the Study should also demonstrate more concrete and proactive proposals about heritage and conservation apart from saying that “… … heritage trails would be identified with special paving and abutted with trees wherever possible..” .
9. The Study suggests the use of brownfield sites for the NDA development by re-provisioning the affected operations in alternative locations. However, it is not clear how, since it just says that Government will explore suitable arrangements through development of multi-storey industrial compounds. In respect of the “Logistics, Enterprise and Technology Quarter” (DCA3), it is doubtful whether only 9 ha. reserved for an “Enterprise and Technology Park”  (for accommodating innovation and technology uses, testing and certification use, data centre, modern industries and .. … etc.) is adequate. The Science and Technology Park in Shatin is 22 ha. in area. It is also not clear what is the role of this in the context of the development of other nearby cities in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region.
10. Landscape and environment – The proposal of a North-South artery cycleway and a rather extensive cycle track network are supported. However, regarding the proposed intra-district Green Transport Corridor (GTC), it is said to be a grade-separated system and could be rail-based or road-based. Illustrations in the pamphlet seem to suggest that the EFTS is on-grade. Part of the EFTS runs along with the cycle track at Tin Ying Road riverside promenade and in parallel with some other cycle tracks. It has yet to be demonstrated that the system and the cycle tracks are compatible. If however the EFTS along Tin Ying Road is elevated, then it would pose a major visual impact on the riverside, it should better not take this alignment at all.
11. Other Green initiatives such as “community green stations, environmental education, … collection of recyclables …”; “explore .. revitalization of existing river channel system to enhance the channel ecological system; … ..and explore.. a district cooling system, etc. …” are supported in principle. It would be useful if elaboration would be given on the mechanisms of implementation and how the biodiversity in the area could be preserved and enhanced. Biodiversity considerations should include that in urban parks and in agricultural practice and not just wild life.
12. The planned population is 215,000, of which 173,000 are new population (in 60,000 flats at a Public : Private ratio of 51 : 49. Has this proportion taken the Territorial demand characteristics and housing target into account and not purely the demand from the NDA ? This question is raised because it is not sure that all the proposed 150,000 jobs would be filled by the population in this NDA. Other forms of housing might perhaps be required - such as rental housing, quarters provided by employers, accommodation for special talents from outside and transient population from across the boundary, etc.?
13. The Study proposes to make the HSK NDA a “green city”, and would introduce sustainable and energy saving strategies. It is also said that the planning is people oriented …, with provision of a wide range of social and community facilities including hospital, clinic, …etc.” It also aims at achieving a social mix “with a balanced public-private housing mix and redress the dominance of public housing in TSW new…” (with) .. .. sufficient social and community facilities as well as convenient public transport services …”.  In short, we would recommend the Study to explore how a Smart City strategy could be adopted. In the IT era, it would be useful to consider innovative applications of IT to better share facilities among the community and ways of best bringing the services to the people when demanded at the most affordable manner. IT should also be applied in monitoring the use of energy, the discharge of effluents, management of traffic, etc.
14. In implementation, we concur that an “enhanced Conventional New Town(CNT) approach” would be a pragmatic way forward.

Public Affairs Committee of

The Hong Kong Institute of Urban Design

30 September 2015