For discussion on Task Force on Land Supply

7 November 2017 Paper No. 07/2017

TASK FORCE ON LAND SUPPLY

Reclamation Outside Victoria Harbour

PURPOSE

This paper provides Members with an overview of the

Government’s work on taking forward Reclamation outside Victoria
Harbour, including the opportunities and challenges ahead in relation to
this land supply option.

BACKGROUND

2. The reclamation of land from the sea has long been used in
mountainous Hong Kong to expand the limited supply of developable
land. As at 2016, about 70km2 1 of land representing about 6% of the
total land area (or 25% by developed area2) of Hong Kong was formed by
reclamation. Such reclaimed land is accommodating about 27% of our
total population and 70% of the commercial activities, including our Core
Business District (CBD). In particular, for new town developments,
reclamation has played a pivotal role as six of the nine existing new
towns, namely Tsuen Wan, Shatin, Tuen Mun, Tai Po, Tseung Kwan O
and Tung Chung, were built on reclaimed lands (Figure 1). Besides
housing and commercial uses, reclamation is a major source of land for
transport infrastructures and urban expansion like the Hong Kong
International Airport and West Kowloon Cultural District.

3. Between 1985 and 2000, the Government created over 3 000

ha of land through reclamation, i.e. an average of about 200 ha (2 km2)
per annum. The strong public aspiration of protecting and preserving
Victoria Harbour as a special asset and a natural heritage of Hong Kong
people is enshrined in the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance (PHO)

1
1 km2 = 100 ha
2
Total land area of Hong Kong: 1 106.34 km2; Land developed : 25% (~ 276.59 km2); Country parks
and nature reserves: 40% (~ 442.54 km2)
which was enacted in 1997. To strike a balance among economic
development, environmental protection and natural heritage conservation,
the Government has been very cautious in pursuing further reclamation in
recent years. The PHO stipulates that “the harbour is to be protected
and preserved as a special public asset and a natural heritage of Hong
Kong people, and for that purpose there shall be a presumption against
reclamation in the harbour.” According to the ruling made by the Court
of Final Appeal regarding the PHO in 2004, there must be a compelling
and overriding public need to displace the duty of protection and
preservation in order to rebut the presumption against reclamation within
Victoria Harbour. In essence, major reclamation works for land
development within Victoria Harbour become not practical. Even at the
waters outside Victoria Harbour, reclamation for residential and
commercial developments has virtually stopped. Over the 15-year
period between 2000 and 2015, only about 690 ha of land, or an average
of some 40 ha per annum, mainly in relation to infrastructure projects,
were reclaimed causing the lagging behind of the land supply for housing
and other uses in recent years. Details on the past figures on land
formation and reclamation are given in Figure 2. On the contrary, our
neighbours, Singapore and Macao, have been actively reclaiming land
from surrounding waters to expand their territories; and as a result, the
land area of Singapore has been increased by 24% (or 138 km2) while
that of Macao is about 160% (or 19 km2).

4. Reclamation can generate a large piece of new land with

great flexibility for comprehensive planning of a new community, in
particular for creating smart, green and resilient development. In
developed areas, the new reclaimed land nearby can provide space for
extension of a new town, e.g. Tung Chung New Town Extension. For
relatively remote locations, the new land can be used as decanting sites
for accommodating facilities affected by other land supply options and
allowing or relocating special industrial or “Not-in-My-Backyard”
facilities away from the urban areas. Unlike other land supply options,
reclamation does not result in major impacts on existing land uses and
generally does not require private land resumptions, and household
resettlements. In addition, reclamation is considered as the most
suitable and practical means for building land reserve to meet the
ever-changing needs of the society3, as well as an ideal outlet to handle

3
In March 1999, the Hong Kong government announced the intention to develop a “cyberport”, which
would help local businesses capitalizing on the rapid growth of the Internet. The Cyberport project
was developed at the Telegraph Bay in the Southern District of Hong Kong Island, on a 24 ha of land
reclaimed in 1989.

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locally generated public fill 4.

5. Due to the virtual stoppage of local reclamation projects after

early 2000s, Hong Kong has been largely relying on the delivery
arrangement agreed with the State Oceanic Administration of the
Mainland in delivering the local surplus public fill to receptor sites at
Taishan. From 2007 to 2016, a total of about 100 million tonne public
fill were delivered to Taishan for reclamation creating about 660 ha of
land (almost twice the size of the Kai Tak Development). If reclamation
had continued in Hong Kong with the use of these surplus public fill over
the past decade, the land shortage problem that we are facing could have
been significantly alleviated.

6. The impacts on coastal habitats, marine ecology and fisheries

resources, as well as port operation, marine and land traffic and local
communities are the main concerns of reclamation. Some members of
the public have expressed particular concerns on the impacts to Chinese
Water Dolphin and coral habitats. Others are apparently worried about
impacts to the existing residential or even commercial developments
originally fronting the sea. Arising from such concerns, the impacts on
the environment and/or local communities have been taken as the major
site selection criteria when contemplating any major reclamation project.
In addition, the Government has committed to adopt the state-of-the-art
environmental friendly construction methods such as non-dredged
seawall design and incorporation of eco-shoreline in the reclamation
projects, except in circumstances which are impractical.

ENHANCING LAND SUPPLY STRATEGY STUDY

7. With a view to exploring new sources for land supply, the

Government conducted the study on “Enhancing Land Supply Strategy –
Reclamation outside Victoria Harbour and Rock Cavern Development”
(ELSS) between 2011 and 2014, which included a territory-wide search
to identify potential reclamation sites, and two-stage public engagement
(PE) exercise 5.

4
Public fill is generally the inert portion of the construction and demolition material. It mainly
includes construction debris, rubble, earth, bitumen and concrete, which are suitable for use in land
reclamation and site formation.
5
The corresponding Executive Summary of the Final Reports and the Executive Summary of the
reports on Stage 1 and Stage 2 PE have been uploaded to the Civil Engineering and Development
Department’s (CEDD) website (http://www.cedd.gov.hk/eng/landsupply/index.html).

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Territory-wide Site Searching

8. The results of the Stage 1 PE revealed that there was broad

support for the six-pronged approach 6 in land supply which included
reclamation. The public generally agreed on the Site Selection Criteria7
(SCC) for reclamation, with the impacts on the environmental and local
community regarded as the most important criteria. Other consensus
included more land would be required to meet housing needs for
improving the living environment and enabling infrastructural
development; and support for establishment of land reserve.

9. Generally, the Central Waters are considered more suitable

for large-scale reclamation development as they can avoid shorelines with
high ecological values. The Eastern Waters are generally not suitable
for reclamation because they are characterized by the abundance of
mangroves with rich diversity and fauna species, seagrass areas and key
coral areas. Since the Western Waters are already being constrained by
several major infrastructure projects under planning or construction,
creation of additional sizable artificial islands is not feasible, though there
is some opportunity for near-shore reclamations. In view of the above
and based on the SCC, a long list of reclamation sites was drawn up for
broad technical assessments (including environmental assessment) to
evaluate their development potential.

10. Based on the results of the broad technical assessments,

several potential nearshore reclamation sites, including Lung Kwu Tan at
Tuen Mun, Siu Ho Wan and Sunny Bay at North Lantau, Ma Liu Shui at
Sha Tin, and Tsing Yi Southwest were selected for further consideration.
Besides, the site assessment exercise has identified that there is great
development potential for artificial islands in the Central Waters between
Lantau and Hong Kong Island that worth further exploring. Figure 3
gives the locations of these potential reclamation sites. These potential
sites were made known during the Stage 2 PE and public views on
individual sites were collected for further consideration.

6
Six-pronged approach includes resumption of rural land, redevelopment, land rezoning, reuse of
ex-quarry sites, rock cavern development and reclamation.
7
The SCC are: (1) social harmony & benefit (impact on local community, site location and
accessibility, local needs); (2) enhanced environmental performance (environmental impacts,
environmental benefits); (3) economic efficiency & practicality (cost effectiveness, planning
flexibility, engineering feasibility).

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11. Though being selected, these sites have their own merits and
concerns, which need to be assessed and considered in more detail. For
instance, the Siu Ho Wan and Lung Kwu Tan sites have less impact on
the local community and possess the advantages of availability of existing
transport links. However, they are associated with relatively higher
environmental concerns, such as being in close proximity to Chinese
White Dolphin (CWD) habitats.

Progress Update of the Selected Potential Sites under ELSS

12. Three of the five near-shore potential reclamation sites, viz.

Lung Kwu Tan, Siu Ho Wan and Sunny Bay, are located in the Western
Waters, where a number of major infrastructure projects are under
planning or construction. To strategically assess their overall impacts on
the environment, CEDD conducted a cumulative environmental impact
assessment (CEIA) in respect of air quality, water quality, ecology and
fisheries for these three sites taking into consideration the existing,
committed, planned and proposed projects in their vicinity. The CEIA
study did not identify any major or insurmountable issues with respect to
the four environmental aspects. With due consideration of the potential
impacts on the identified CWD habitat 8 at Siu Ho Wan, we have reduced
the potential size of the proposed Siu Ho Wan reclamation. Members of
Advisory Council on Environment (ACE) were briefed on 9 March 2015
of the assessment findings. In end-2016, the Government also
established the Brothers Marine Park in the vicinity to protect the CWD
habitat.

13. Taking into account the CEIA results, the Government has
been pursuing various further studies for the identified potential
reclamation sites. Recently, the Government completed technical
studies on the reclamations at Ma Liu Shui, Lung Kwu Tan and Siu Ho
Wan covering key strategic infrastructure, engineering, environmental
and social issues of the projects. The results of the studies reveal that
there are no insurmountable issues. The technical findings have also
addressed views and concerns collected in the Stage 2 PE of the ELSS.

14. The five potential near-shore reclamation sites have also

been featured in the on-going “Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning

8
CEDD appointed experts on CWD to conduct field surveys including shore-based theodolite tracking
and passive acoustic monitoring on CWD at Sunny Bay, Siu Ho Wan and Lung Kwu Tan from
August 2013 to February 2014 to study the CWD usage and behaviour in the near-shore waters so as
to provide site specific data to facilitate the ecological impact assessment of the CEIA study.

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Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030” Study and the two at Sunny Bay
and Siu Ho Wan also form part of the Sustainable Lantau Blueprint
promulgated in June 2017. It is also suggested in the Study and the
Blueprint that artificial islands in the Central Waters between Lantau and
Hong Kong Island can be created for developing the East Lantau
Metropolis (ELM) as one of the long-term strategic growth areas which
are crucial for the future development of Hong Kong.

15. To press ahead, the Government will carry out a planning

and engineering (P&E) study for the Lung Kwu Tan reclamation. Based
on the completed technical study, the reclamation can provide a large
piece of land for special industries and rationalising the activities on
existing brownfield areas through consolidation and upgrading

16. On the other hand, the Government is also prepared to carry

out a P&E study on Sunny Bay reclamation which has been identified as
a leisure, entertainment and tourism hub in a number of previous studies.

17. For the Ma Liu Shui reclamation, the Government plans to

proceed with a P&E study. Besides the reclamation, the study will take
into account the planning of the adjoining site vacated after relocation of
the Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works to caverns, with a view to
providing land for development of high technology and knowledge-based
industries, housing and other uses.

18. The Government will carry out strategic studies on artificial

islands in the Central Waters between Lantau and Hong Kong Island,
including the development of ELM. There may also be opportunities for
creating artificial islands in the southern part of the central waters (in
particular the waters off South Cheung Chau) for supporting long-term
development of Hong Kong.

19. For the Siu Ho Wan reclamation, despite its recent

completion of the technical study, the implementation programme is
being reviewed taking into consideration the potential interface and
cumulative impacts with the adjacent developments. The programme of
proposed Tsing Yi Southwest reclamation will also be pending the review
of the long-term port development.

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DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL

Committed and Proposed Projects

20. Apart from the five potential near-shore reclamations and the
artificial islands in the Central Waters projects under planning, the Tung
Chung East reclamation under the Tung Chung New Town Extension
project (TCNTE) 9 will commence construction soon. The development
potential and development timeframe of these reclamation projects are
shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1(a) – Development Potential of Proposed Reclamations

Reclamation Potential land use Tentative

(approximately) (subject to further land
(ha) study) formation
time
Near-shore Sunny Bay: Leisure, 2026-2030
Reclamations 60 to 100 entertainment,
tourism
Lung Kwu Tan: Industrial and other 2026-2030
220 to 250 uses

Ma Liu Shui: High technology 2026-2030

60 and knowledge
based industries,
housing and other
uses
Siu Ho Wan: Training and Subject to
60 to 80 education facilities review

Tsing Yi Subject to review Subject to

Southwest: review
(subject to review)

9
The existing engineering infrastructure at Tung Chung New Town (TCNT) was completed in April
2003. The current population of TCNT is about 80,000 while the planned population is about
124,000. The Government has been planning to further develop the TCNT into a comprehensively
planned new town with a larger population capacity and adequate local and regional community
facilities. Following a three-stage PE exercise completed in October 2014, a development proposal
of TCNTE including the Recommended Outline Development Plan, the major development
parameters and land uses are formulated.

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 Reclamation Potential land use Tentative
(approximately) (subject to further land
(ha) study) formation
time
Artificial ELM: ELM: Beyond
islands in ~1 000 New core business 2030
Central district including
Waters housing and
commercial uses

Southern part of Southern part of

Central Waters Central Waters
(including south of (including south of
Cheung Chau): Cheung Chau):

Subject to study Subject to study

Table 1(b) – Development Potential of Tung Chung East Reclamation

Reclamation Estimated Flat Estimated

(approximately) Production / Population
(ha) Economic Use Intake/GFA
GFA (about) Availability
Tung Chung 121 Flat no.: 40 800 2023 – 2030
East units
Reclamation
Commercial GFA:
877 000 m2

Other Potential Reclamation Sites

21. There are opinions advocating for more reclamations outside

Victoria Harbour. Despite the above-mentioned potential reclamation
sites being studied by the Government, some have suggested that
large-scale reclamations should also be considered in Tseung Kwan O,
Tuen Mun, waters off Cheung Chau South, Lamma Island and Po Toi
Island, etc. In particular, Cheung Chau South reclamation is suggested
as having the potential for relocating the existing Kwai Tsing Container
Terminals.

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22. Amongst these proposals, the proposed reclamation at the
waters off Cheung Chau South will be studied in the upcoming strategic
studies on artificial islands in the Central Waters.

23. The reclamation sites at the Tseung Kwan O, Tuen Mun and
Po Toi sites were broadly assessed in the ELSS study 10. Regarding the
Tseung Kwan O sites, there is a general public expectation that no
additional reclamation will take place in the area in view of the
Government’s decision to pursue the “no further reclamation” option
under the “Feasibility Study for Further Development of Tseung Kwan
O”. Apart from affecting the Butterfly Beach and existing waterfront
marine facilities, like berths and the Tuen Mun Ferry Pier, any large scale
reclamation at Tuen Mun Area 40 (east of River Trade Terminal) should
take into consideration the existence of bundles of strategic submarine
power cables connecting to the airport. The Po Toi site is quite
ecologically sensitive because it is one of the sites where the endemic
amphibian species Romer’s Tree Frog is found and the waters in its
vicinity are also frequently used by Finless Porpoise.

24. The Government has not carried out any assessment for the
suggested large-scale reclamation at the waters west of Lamma Island.
However, the close proximity of the Lamma Power Station, impacts on
Finless Porpoise habitat, Hung Shing Ye Beach and the beach at Sham
Wan 11, and the lack of transport and other supporting infrastructures are
issues of consideration.

CHALLENGES

25. Besides the challenges in dealing with various possible

impacts on the environment, the local communities, etc. as mentioned in
paragraph 6 above, reclamation projects usually require substantial
capital investments. However, past experience shows that near-shore
reclamation is a relatively cost-effective land supply option, in particular
those sites which are close to the existing transport network and can enjoy
the benefits of shared use of existing supporting infrastructures (such as
water supply and sewerage facilities) already in place in the nearby
developed areas.

10
Though the reclamation extent and potential uses under ELSS might not be the same as those
proposed by the public.
11
The location is a Restricted Area designated to protect the nesting site of Green Turtles.

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26. Regarding artificial islands, since they are created in the
middle of the waters lacking transport or infrastructures facilities,
relatively heavier investments will be required which will also be paid
upfront in view of the substantial infrastructure provision. However,
when examining the cost-benefits of this type of mega-scale reclamation
projects, we should not only focus on the construction costs, but also the
potential socio-economic benefits that will be brought to the whole
community. Taking the ELM as an example, the artificial islands can
provide sizeable flat land at a strategic location between Lantau and Hong
Kong Island for the development of a new town and a CBD to improve
the spatial distribution of homes and jobs in Hong Kong. The
construction of new connecting transport infrastructures there offers an
opportunity to enhance the transport connectivity between the urban areas,
Lantau and the western New Territories, and provide an alternative
transport link to the Hong Kong International Airport. It will also
strengthen the transport connection from the traditional CBD to the Pearl
River Delta east and west, bringing about significant social and economic
benefits to the whole society. The development of ELM together with
the other near-shore reclamations along the northern shore of Lantau
Island are therefore of strategic importance to the future development of
Hong Kong as set out in the Sustainable Lantau Blueprint.

27. Reclamation projects do take a long lead time from its initial
planning to realization. Figure 4 shows a typical implementation
programme of a reclamation project. To reclaim a piece of sizable land,
we need to carry out the necessary feasibility studies, and planning and
engineering studies which involve several rounds of PE exercises.
Coupled with other statutory and necessary procedures, detailed design
and construction, the entire land development process would normally
take a decade or more to complete.

VIEWS FROM STAKEHOLDERS/COMMUNITY

28. Apart from the impacts on marine ecology, ecological

conservation, transportation, cost-effectiveness, the site-specific public
concerns on the five near-shore potential reclamation sites and possible
artificial islands in the Central Waters are mostly related to potential
impacts on local community, noise and air pollution, deterioration of
water quality, marine and land traffic and huge construction cost.

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ADVICE SOUGHT

29. Members are invited to offer views on possible

enhancements/refinements on the Government’s land supply initiative on
reclamation outside Victoria Harbour.

Development Bureau
Civil Engineering and Development Department
2 November 2017

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 New Town Developments in Hong Kong Figure 1 
香港的新市鎮發展 圖一 
 
  New town 
Fanling 粉嶺/ developments built on 
 
reclaimed land 
Sheung Shui 上水
  建於填海土地的新市鎮
    發展 
 
  New town 
developments not built 
  Tin Shui Wai Tai Po 大埔 on reclaimed land 
  天水圍   非建於填海土地的新市
鎮發展 
 
Yuen Long  
  Reclaimed land   
元朗 填海土地 
  Tuen Mun 屯門
  Sha Tin
Tsuen Wan 荃灣
  沙田
 
 
 
Tseung Kwan O
 
將軍澳
 
 
Tung Chung 東涌
 
 
 
 Land Formation Area and Reclamation Area (1985-2015) (ha) Figure  2 
從 1985 至 2015 年間的土地開拓面積及填海面積 (公頃) 圖二 
 

3000

2500
Land Formation area 土地開拓面積
2000
Hectare (公頃)

Reclamation area 填海面積

1500

1000

500

0
1985‐1994 1995‐2004 2004‐2015
Years 年份
 
 Reclamation outside Victoria Harbour Figure 3
維港以外填海 圖三

2
5

4
6

Near Shore Reclamation Sites

近岸填海地點 Strategic Studies of Artificial
1 Lung Kwu Tan 龍鼓灘 Islands in Central Waters
中部水域人工島策略性研究
2 Sunny Bay 欣澳
3 Ma Liu Shui 馬料水
4 Siu Ho Wan 小蠔灣
East Lantau Metropolis
5 Tsing Yi Southwest 青衣西南 東大嶼都會
Tung Chung New Town Central Waters
6
Extension 東涌新市鎮擴展 中部水域
1
 Typical Programme for Reclamation Project Figure 4
一般填海工程的時間表 圖四
Time (Years) 時間(年)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Technical Feasibility Study
技術可行性研究 Note 註：
This figure only shows a typical programme of a 
Entry into Captial Works Programme reclamation project.  The actual time required may vary 
納入基本工程計劃 depending on the project complexities and 
circumstances.
本圖表列示一般填海工程的時間表，個別填海工程所
Apply for LegCo's funding approval
需的時間要視乎其複雜性及情況而定。
向立法會申請撥款

Planning and Engineering Study (Including public engagement exercises)
規劃及工程研究 ( 包括多輪公眾參與活動)

Environmental Impact Assessment and corresponding Statutory Procedures
環境影響評估及相關法定程序

Town Planning Ordinance/ Foreshore and Seabed 
(Reclamation) Ordinance Procedures
城市規劃條例/前濱及海床( 填海工程) 條例法定程序

Apply for LegCo's funding approval
向立法會申請撥款

Detailed Design 
詳細設計

Apply for LegCo's funding approval 
向立法會申請撥款

Construction (Reclamation Works)
施工 (填海工程)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Time (Years) 時間(年)