A university town will be home to Hong Kong’s biggest public hospital with 3,000 beds, serving a population of at least 32,000 people and supporting the city’s third medical school, with the first batch of residents moving to the area by 2034.
The release of details on Wednesday about the new town in Ngau Tam Mei in Yuen Long, of which 60 per cent is private land, followed Beijing’s voicing of concerns over developers’ reluctance to bid for projects amid a slow economy.
Asked whether the government was worried about the lukewarm response in the private sector, a Development Bureau spokesman said developers should have already “gained some insights” about taking part in projects after they met Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Xia Baolong last Friday.
Xia used the meeting to urge support for the city’s development from the 29 business leaders from property companies, chambers of commerce, tech firms and state-owned enterprises in attendance.
The spokesman added the government was confident that landowners in the area would participate in exchange applications to get involved in the university town plan.
“There were in situ land exchange cases that happened in the Fanling North New Development Area,” the spokesman said, citing previous successful cases.
