Hong Kong’s oldest university has bowed to public pressure and will cut back the scale of a landmark project aimed at nurturing IT talent after encountering huge opposition in its upmarket neighbourhood.
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The University of Hong Kong (HKU) plans to build a Global Innovation Centre (GIC), where scholars and scientists will carry out transdisciplinary frontier research, in Pok Fu Lam.
The university started conducting an ecological impact assessment in 2022.
“HKU has decided to take some time to strategically amend the development plan of the GIC, eg reducing the density of the proposed development and bulk of the building(s), increasing the setback area from neighbouring buildings, designating more green spaces, etc, to address stakeholders’ opinions as much as practicable,” it said on Thursday.
According to the university, the centre, spanning 4.72 hectares (11.6 acres) or an area the size of about six football fields on Pok Fu Lam Road near Queen Mary Hospital, would be a world-class academic and scientific research facility.
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It would also include space for teaching, conferences, offices, staff quarters, catering and support facilities, and landscaped areas open to the public.
HKU had said the project would help develop Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology hub as envisioned in the latest national five-year plan and consolidate the city’s leading position in basic research.