Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis to have designated laws to speed up development

Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis near the border with mainland China will have its own set of laws designed to speed up its development, with statutory procedures simplified and some funding approvals allowed to bypass the legislature, the city’s leader has said.

In his penultimate policy address on Wednesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also revealed that the first of three university towns in the megaproject would have its site ready for use next year.

The Northern Metropolis project, first announced in 2021, aims to turn 30,000 hectares (74,132 acres) of land into an engine for economic growth and a housing hub.

According to a government source, authorities will establish one or more dedicated companies to manage the various industrial parks within the megaproject as part of the new measures to speed up development.

“We suggest that specific estimated budgets within the dedicated funding channels [for approved companies] should not require approval from the Legislative Council,” a government source said.

However, those companies would still need to report to Legco periodically, and the details of the legislation would be subject to change after a two-month public consultation early next year, the source said.