sustainable development

Lantau Sustainable Development Plan

After strongly criticising the Concept Plan for Lantau, from the Lantau Development Task Force (see, for instance, HK Outdoors response to the plan, under Lantau News & Views), I've drafted an alternative plan - with proposed projects that may actually be sustainable.

Hoping to get some support for this from various quarters, and see about trying to actually work on something positive for Lantau - at same time as also arguing against things like the Big Bridge, the Logistics "Park", new container terminal...

Here's the latest version, following some comments received; your comments welcome too. There's a Chinese translation on the forums, where you can also add comments/ideas  - in thread A Sustainable Development Plan for Lantau.

Submitted by DocMartin on 6 July 2005 - 12:37am

Donald Tsang development

Here's a letter I sent the South China Morning Post, during the (ahem) election for Chief Executive.

Dear Sir:

It was good to hear that Donald Tsang plans to nurture an environment essential for our future sustainable growth and development. But I wonder if the envisaged sustainable growth and development is the kind that will safeguard our natural environment for future generations; or does it mean continual concreting, and never-ending projects and profits for developers?

Perhaps answers will be revealed through the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge project. This is within the Concept Plan for Lantau, which espouses "sustainable development". Yet, especially once it was decided to make the bridge road only, it instantly became an unsustainable project.

Submitted by DocMartin on 21 June 2005 - 5:54pm

HK Concrete n Conservation

Looking around Hong Kong, you might think there was plenty of concrete around, thank you very much, and we should be making a concerted effort to protect the remaining beautiful, relatively wild areas. Not so! No, the Kings of Concrete and the wannabe kings are queuing up with plans to build on or over some lovely places; and the government seems split between conservation (some sectors of government seem keen on this), and dreaming up Big Silly Projects.

Here and there, there are conservation successes, where some of Hong Kong's prime wild places are protected. But by my reckoning, we could really do with some strong examples of "eco-tourism" - to show that it's possible to make money from a place without wrecking it. Or even these last bastions will be despoiled, ruined obliterated, razed too. (Takes deep, meditative breaths before continuing.)

Submitted by DocMartin on 7 May 2004 - 9:12am

Community based tourism HK

The rapid recovery of the Hong Kong tourism industry from the effects of SARS has been one of the major stories of the past ten months. Arrivals from long-haul destinations are back to pre-SARS levels, while the success of the Individual Visit Scheme under CEPA has resulted in mainland visitors now accounting for more than half the sectors revenue.

Prospects for 2004 are bright; The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) reports that we can expect more than 20 million visitors this year, a 30% increase on 2003. The forthcoming expansion of the Individual Visit Scheme to all of Guangdong province will bring yet more mainland arrivals, with three-day shopping trips for designer brands proving to be especially popular.

Despite this undoubtedly positive news, many observers feel that potentially very lucrative forms of tourism continue to be ignored and underdeveloped in the territory. Hong Kong is still marketed primarily as a short-stay city destination, with the average length of stay being roughly three days.

Submitted by Visitor on 23 April 2004 - 1:38pm
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