{"id":10418,"date":"2017-11-10T07:45:12","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T15:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2017\/11\/10\/news-4191\/"},"modified":"2017-11-10T07:45:12","modified_gmt":"2017-11-10T15:45:12","slug":"news-4191","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2017\/11\/10\/news-4191\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong\u2019s Government Is Spending Billions Taking Land from the Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"

Credit to Author: Justin Heifetz\u200b\u200b| Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2017 15:00:00 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Hong Kong, space is scarce, comes at a premium, and who has it can quickly become political. And when the semi-autonomous territory has difficulty building on land to create more space, whether it\u2019s for housing or infrastructure, the government often turns to the sea. <\/p>\n

Through expensive, time intensive, and complicated land reclamation projects, Hong Kong is continually extending out and into the water, where there wasn\u2019t land before. The process is nothing new: the first land reclamation project here started in 1887, and some 45 square miles of the Chinese metropolis has been formed through reclamation since<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Today, the scale of land reclamation in the former British colony is revving up to unprecedented heights. The government is building a new, third airport runway from reclaimed land, an eight-year-long, $18 billion project<\/a> that has decimated nearly an entire population of endangered dolphins, along with a $592 million<\/a> extension of roadways from the city\u2019s iconic Victoria Harbor. <\/p>\n

But reclamation isn\u2019t all about these megastructures. It\u2019s also, mostly, about how to make room for new homes.<\/p>\n

The government is now planning eight major reclamation projects, according to a written statement provided to Motherboard from the Development Bureau, the agency responsible for land resources and urban planning. Most of them are extension projects for sleepy new towns on Lantau, Hong Kong\u2019s largest island and home to many preserved country parks, and in the city\u2019s more rural New Territories, to make way for more public and private housing. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf new land is created, that doesn\u2019t mean it will be allocated correctly\u2014and that it will solve poor people\u2019s housing problems.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

At the same time, in Hong Kong\u2019s New Territories, north of Kowloon, there are nearly 3,000 acres<\/a> of so-called brownfield sites\u2014land mostly used for illegal logistics operations like storage facilities or toxic e-waste<\/a> dump sites, but otherwise suited for legal development projects. Also in the New Territories, the city\u2019s three major developers are sitting on 2,123 acres of undeveloped land<\/a>. Furthermore, over 100 school buildings are unoccupied<\/a> across Hong Kong. And in the city\u2019s dense urban center, there\u2019s even an estimated 500-acre bank<\/a> of undeveloped land. <\/p>\n

If land is readily available, then why is Hong Kong’s government so aggressively spending billions to build from the sea?<\/p>\n

*<\/b><\/p>\n

The most ambitious of the proposed land reclamation projects is far and away the East Lantau Metropolis<\/a>, which outlines plans for a new city that will be built at sea level on a large artificial island. The government says the city will house up to one million people by 2030, two-and-a-half miles away from any shore, and will cost up to $51 billion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government\u2019s sound bite is very easy: we live in shoebox apartments with no space,\u201d Tom Yam, a vocal environmental activist who heads the Save Lantau Alliance<\/a>, told me when we met at Hong Kong\u2019s International Finance Center.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/picture>\n
A map of Lantau Island, in the west of Hong Kong, with the proposed East Lantau Metropolis seen in the blue circle. Image: Hong Kong Development Bureau<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Hong Kong\u2019s government mostly justifies its race for space as a quick fix for an increasingly broken social system. The city is small, jam-packed, and boasts the most expensive property market<\/a> in the world. Only 25 percent of the territory\u2019s 427 square-miles are developed and less than four percent of Hong Kong\u2019s total land is used for both public and private housing. That means about 7.4 million people are competing for 17 square miles of living space.<\/p>\n

Hong Kong also suffers from a profound wealth gap<\/a>\u2014the world\u2019s second worst behind New York City\u2014and many people pile into tenement spaces the size of coffins<\/a> just to survive. Even those who are educated and have steady incomes often live in apartments no larger than parking spaces<\/a>. Hong Kong\u2019s leader, Carrie Lam, has made cooling the property market and creating adequate housing a top priority<\/a>\u2014but it\u2019s now more expensive than ever<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat is quite a paradox that after the Communist Party took over this city, for 20 years, the rich-poor gap has widened,\u201d lawmaker Eddie Chu told me at the Legislative Council building. Chu won the most votes<\/a> in last year\u2019s election\u2014and is one of the last pro-democracy lawmakers still standing after a political purge from Beijing<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe government has promised that land reclamation is the solution for the housing problem, but I don\u2019t believe that,\u201d Chu said. \u201cIf new land is created, that doesn\u2019t mean it will be allocated correctly\u2014and that it will solve poor people\u2019s housing problems.\u201d <\/p>\n

*<\/b><\/p>\n

Hong Kong\u2019s New Territories have a complicated history because of British colonization. There, Hong Kong\u2019s indigenous people sought to preserve their land rights when England took the area over at the end of the 19th century. Soon after, the Heung Yee Kuk, an elected body of village councilors that still exists today to represent the land interests of those indigenous people, was born. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the only representative organization then as such and they were masters of the game,\u201d David Faure, a prominent historian of modern China, told me over the phone. \u201cThey did representative politics half a century before the rest of Hong Kong\u2014they are not just village folks.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Heung Yee Kuk, casually known as the Kuk, proved shrewd at Chinese politics. The Kuk\u2019s land rights were enshrined in the Basic Law\u2014Hong Kong\u2019s mini-constitution\u2014promising land to every male of the subsequent generation, a mechanism known as the Small House Policy<\/a>. But as Hong Kong modernizes, the Kuk\u2019s role in land deals has become more questionable. <\/p>\n

\u201cWho is an indigenous villager?\u201d Faure said. \u201cIt is true villagers have small houses, but no one just handed it over to them. How do you get that plot of land?\u201d <\/p>\n

The Kuk have been accused<\/a> of taking advantage of this policy to unfairly capitalize from land in the New Territories. For example, small houses can be built only three floors high, but these houses can still be large or luxurious. Some Kuk were found guilty<\/a> of illegally selling their land rights to developers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government wants to take the path of least resistance\u2014the middle of the sea.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

The 3,000 acres of brownfield sites in the New Territories also belong to the Kuk, and fall mostly under the control of Chinese crime syndicates<\/a> known as triads. Last year, the government suddenly abandoned<\/a> its plans for building a 17,000-unit public housing estate on a brownfield storage site after private exchanges with Kuk councilors.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrownfield patches remain untouched, whether it\u2019s container storage or waste treatment, and the landlords are sitting on it and waiting for the best offer\u201d from developers, said Yam. \u201cThe government wants to take the path of least resistance\u2014the middle of the sea.\u201d <\/p>\n

Chu took on the Kuk last year in the elections for legislature over their ties to the brownfield sites in the New Territories, and was placed under police watch<\/a> after death threats to both him and his family. Chu said the brownfield sites are \u201ca lawless area\u2026 an underground world that is administered by local thugs, landlords, and Heung Yee Kuk,\u201d and that the New Territories is becoming a safe haven for different kinds of illegal activities that can stymie land development. <\/p>\n

\u201cReclaiming land is an easy course to be taken by the government as nobody owns the seabed,\u201d Jeffrey Herbert, a retired senior superintendent of the Hong Kong Police Force, told me over email. \u201cThe New Territories is a mess of land rights, old land, ding uk<\/i> [small houses], and modern day developments. The government would be locked in battles for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Kuk leader Lau Wong-fat died in July. The council\u2019s current chairman, Lau Wong-fat\u2019s son, Kenneth Lau, declined my interview request.<\/p>\n

*<\/b><\/p>\n

Walk toward the waterfront of Hong Kong Island, just steps away from the city\u2019s exhibition center, and there\u2019s a stunning view of Kowloon across the harbor, with its gleaming glass office towers stretching into the sky. But approaching the water\u2019s edge, the harbor is cut off by corrugated steel barriers. Behind them, trucks drive over dirty sludge. Loud cranes dig into the ground, while large machines suck water from the ground. Metal collides, making piercing noises that shoot out under the pounding summer sun. Waves of dust puff out beneath brightly colored tractors. Plastic waste and construction material floats on in the harbor. <\/p>\n

This is the Wan Chai Development Phase II Project, a large-scale land reclamation project on Victoria Harbor that cost over half-a-billion dollars just to get off the ground in 2009. The purpose is to create major transportation infrastructure where there isn\u2019t any natural space, so the government is creating a road from undersea land in the harbor. The development is projected to end in 2021. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/picture>\n
Image: Justin Heifetz<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Reclamation projects like this aren\u2019t only expensive, but can also cause serious damage to the environment. The public may never know the extent of that harm, because of an openly compromised system for carrying out environmental impact assessments, or EIAs, on new projects. In Hong Kong, EIAs are conducted by the proponent<\/a>, meaning the government will commission either itself or government-tied consultancies to carry them out. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why [most] EIAs are approved<\/a> by the environmental advisory board and also the head of the Environmental Protection Department,\u201d said Chu. \u201cConsultancies [that] are owned by large mega-companies have good relationships with the government in order to get the contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there are the literal tons of sand reclamation projects require. Sand is essential to fill in that new space reclaimed from the sea\u2014and the world is quickly running out of the stuff<\/a>. It is well documented that sand mining has become a global environmental crisis<\/a>, destroying beaches and riverbeds in its wake. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe imported marine sand is predominantly sourced from the Mainland of China and then shipped to Hong Kong,\u201d the bureau spokespersons said in their emailed statement. \u201cThe Development Bureau does not have information relating to the cost of imported sand of individual project [sic].\u201d The spokespersons could not offer any more details as to the amounts of sand imported or where in Mainland China the sand comes from. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, a land reclamation project will first have to go through a feasibility study, then followed by relevant statutory procedures as well as detailed design phase before the commencement of construction,\u201d the spokespersons responded when asked about what happens during a large-scale reclamation project from start to finish. No further details were given. <\/p>\n

Read more: Hong Kong Has No Space Left for the Dead<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Chu said that during the government meetings he attends, resources for land reclamation like sand are rarely discussed. If it comes up, he said, it\u2019s most often the engineering sector lobbying to use Hong Kong\u2019s dramatic amount of construction waste\u2014about five tons a day<\/a>\u2014in reclamation projects. <\/p>\n

The engineering sector has much to benefit from new reclamation projects because it can reuse all of this waste. Tseung Kwan O Area 137 sits at the edge of a massive landfill<\/a> and is one of two sites housing the city\u2019s construction waste. Much of that waste will be used in the airport\u2019s third runway construction and other reclamation projects, according to an emailed statement to Motherboard from Thomson Sze, a spokesperson for the Civil Engineering and Development Department. The government is studying a way to develop Area 137 into housing after 2019\u2014which creates a further incentive to use the waste. The waste site itself is built on reclaimed land.<\/p>\n

If the East Lantau Metropolis gets the green light, Yam is concerned about the effect of climate change on a city built at sea level in 2030. \u201cImagine the consequences of global warming,\u201d he said, \u201cor even during a typhoon or hurricane.\u201d <\/p>\n

*<\/b><\/p>\n

Along with environmentalists, who protest development to preserve local ecology, Chu said the government is to some extent spinning a narrative that the Kuk are a common enemy behind the city\u2019s land problems. He believes the issue is more nuanced, and that the government administration is trying to divert the focus away from another core problem: serving its own interests.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s Town Planning Board, which is mostly in charge of the territory\u2019s urban plans, consists entirely of members appointed by Hong Kong\u2019s pro-Beijing leader. In Chu\u2019s estimation, the government is ramping up the scale of its land reclamation projects to not only avoid land issues in the New Territories, but also to continue financing large industries\u2014namely, the engineering and consulting sectors, which have the largest stake in new projects. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith projects like the East Lantau Metropolis, my perception is that it is a new round of infrastructure to continue this industry for the next 20 to 30 years,\u201d said Chu. \u201cWhen you look at the figures, it just doesn\u2019t make any sense to spend so much money\u2026 you don\u2019t have enough population or enough economic activities to fill it in.\u201d<\/p>\n

But land in Hong Kong is complicated. And some people, like retired police department superintendent Herbert, who now lives in a New Territories village, believe looking out to the ocean is the best path forward. \u201cIn fact, I believe building on or over the sea may be the best thing for Hong Kong,\u201d Herbert told me.<\/p>\n

The Development Bureau maintained that \u201cthe government has been increasing land supply through a multi-pronged approach, including reclamation outside Victoria Harbor, in order to address the pressing demand for additional land for economic development and for improving living space.\u201d <\/p>\n

For Chu\u2014dubbed the territory\u2019s \u201cking of votes\u201d\u2014the core of the issue is that the people of Hong Kong have no say in what happens to their land. Whether it\u2019s cleaning up crime in brownfield sites to make way for accessible public housing, or stopping a plot of land in the urban center from being sold to yet another luxury developer, there are little to no options for most to voice their objections. <\/p>\n

\u201cSince the government does not surrender its power to the people, you can see land administration is one of the most mysterious areas of the government\u2014nobody in Hong Kong can have a say in it,\u201d Chu said. \u201cWe are so far away from a democratic system of land administration and town planning.\u201d <\/p>\n

Get six of our favorite Motherboard stories every day <\/i><\/b> by signing up for our newsletter<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

https:\/\/motherboard.vice.com\/en_us\/rss<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Credit to Author: Justin Heifetz\u200b\u200b| Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2017 15:00:00 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

The scale of land reclamation in the semi-autonomous territory is revving up to unprecedented heights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[10643,13328,10378],"tags":[3401,16545,14728,7456,1577,5729,2139,16004,16547,16548,16546],"class_list":["post-10418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-independent","category-motherboard","category-security","tag-building","tag-construction","tag-development","tag-earth","tag-features","tag-hong-kong","tag-housing","tag-land","tag-megastructures","tag-reclamation","tag-sand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10418\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}