我向政府土地供應專責委員會遞交了一份意見書（見下），以外國及香港的例子，說明在交通運輸用地上興建樓房是快捷和便宜的增加房屋土地供應的選項，關鍵是以立體思維去進行城市規劃。
事實上，香港近年已經有不少先例，同一片土地上的不同高度用作雨種不同用途，如架空馬路穿過油麻地停車場、紅磡站和多個地鐵站上蓋的住宅與商場、岩洞下的配水庫、污水廠和垃圾轉運站等，所以可以說立體規劃在香港已是既定政府政策，我的建議只是把它具體化到在交通運輸用地上建屋而己。
意見書裏舉例的五個選址，合共可提供近50公頃的建屋土地，不可謂少，而且香港還有其他地方可作同樣一地兩用，提供更多建屋土地，因此強烈建議專責小組在今年展開的公眾諮詢，即行政長講過的「大辯論」中，把在文通運輸用地上建屋列為給香港市民選擇的土地供應選項。
如果專責小組連填掉淡水湖都列為選項，則沒有理由把這個可行、快捷和便宜的方案拒諸門外，期望小組以香港人福祉為念，接受這個其實世界早有先例的增加土地供應方案。
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Paper for Task Force on Land Supply
Housing Development Above Transport Infrastructure As
A Land Option
Submitted
by:
Lam
Chiu Ying, Adjunct Professor
Geography
and Resource Management Department
Chinese University of Hong Kong
9
January 2018
1.
Introduction
a.
This paper follows up on the
suggestion given in paragraph 12 (b) 2 of the paper dated 1 August 2017,
submitted by the Hong Kong Countryside Foundation to the Chief Executive and
relevant policy secretaries. The TFLS
secretariat notified HKCF on 28 December 2017 that the paper was circulated to
TFLS members.
b.
That paragraph advocates that
Government and the Task Force on Land Supply should take up the option of
securing land for housing by making use of “potential podiums above infrastructure, utilities, highways, railways, and roadside areas”.
c.
This paper explains that this
option could release significant amounts of land within a shorter time frame
than many other options. It is shown by
way of examples that sizable pieces of land currently occupied by transport
infrastructures exist, which are large enough to accommodate typical public
housing estates so long as one is prepared to think out of the box and adopts a
3-dimensional approach to land zoning.
d.
TFLS is urged to present
this recommendation of the Hong Kong
Countryside Foundation as an option for the public to consider and prioritize
in the coming comprehensive public consultation.
2.
The concept
a.
Traditional town planning
assigns land use zones on a two-dimensional plan. In Hong Kong,
only one land use label is applied to each zone marked on Outline Zoning Plans
published by Government. It serves as
the basis of the administrative and enforcement work of Planning Department and
Lands Department.
b.
However, as land resource
becomes scarce in densely populated cities, a pattern has emerged in which two
or more different uses are stacked on the same footprint in many countries. Examples are public parks, commercial plaza
and residential building built above roads and highways. This amounts to the adoption of a 3-dimensional
approach to town planning, in which vertical partition of space is implemented
to accommodate diverse uses of land..
c.
In Hong
Kong, the concept of transport infrastructure and other land uses
co-existing above the same footprint is not new. A well-known example is the elevated road
which runs through Yaumatei
Carpark Building. Several housing projects are built on the land
of railway stations and depots. An early
example is the Metropolis
Residence Towers
above Hunghom Station. Nowadays, many
building developments sit on top of MTR stations.
d.
HKCF’s recommendation to
build on podiums above highways, railways, etc. is a manifestation of this 3-d
town planning approach. The key is to enable residential/commercial/public
uses and transport infrastructure share the same footprint but occupy different
vertical levels.
3.
Advantages of the concept
- Recent advocates for more extensive applications of this
concept in Hong Kong include Vincent Ng,
ex-President of Hong Kong Institute of Architects. The advantages of the concept are “quick
supply of land, quick improvement to environment of the district and
savings in the development of land resource” (ref.1).
- Land occupied by roads and railways is brown-field land. The use of such land for housing
development conforms to the “brown field site first” principle. Thus it would reduce potential
opposition from people concerned with conservation.
- Furthermore such sites are typically Government land so that no
land resumption is required. The
development of such sites may proceed in earnest without complications
arising from negotiations with private land owners or tenants.
- There is no need to incur any expense of the same order of
magnitude as reclamation in remote parts of Hong Kong
waters. There is also no need to
build major transport infrastructure since road and railway transport are
already there. Development on
transport infrastructure land is thus a much cheaper option than
reclamation.
4.
Overseas Examples
- Many examples already exist elsewhere in the world. An example involving an area of around
10 hectares is found in Boston,
USA. Over a stretch of about 800 metres above
Interstate 90, a platform is formed to accommodate a cluster of buildings,
including residential apartments, hotels, commercial buildings, shopping
malls and open space. Among them is
Prudential Tower, a 52-storey building with
110,000 sq. metres of floor area. It
shows that development of this scale above roads is feasible in
engineering terms and that building above roads for residential purpose is
practical.
Boston (A:Prudential Tower; B: Copley Place)
- Another example of a smaller scale is the Washington
State Convention
Center in Seattle. It sits on a platform of around 2
hectares formed above Interstate-5.
The eastern portion of Washington State Convention
Center (W) stands astride Interstate-5
5.
Potential sites in Hong Kong for
housing development above transport infrastructure
a.
MTR Pat Heung Depot
Area: about 20
hectares. The site could comfortably accommodate
the equivalent of Kwong Fuk Estate and Wang Fuk Garden in Tai Po.
b.
Coastal strip at Ma Liu Shui
near the Chinese University
of Hong Kong
Area:
about 3 hectares. The site is only
slightly smaller than that of Wo Che Estate in Sha Tin.
c.
Large roundabout in Yaumatei
Area:
about 10 hectares. The site is large
enough to accommodate So Uk Estate in Shamshuipo.
d.
Road junction south-east of Mei
Foo Sun Chuen
Area:
about 8 hectares. The site is only
slightly smaller than the southern half of Mei Foo Sun Chuen.
e.
Road network between Mei Foo
Sun Chuen and the Container Port (including some open-air car parks)
Area:
about 8 hectares. The site is only
slightly smaller than the southern half of Mei Foo Sun Chuen.
6.
Likely objections
- It is understood that Lands Department has traditionally
opposed the concept of developments above roads which reflects adherence
to the 2-dimensional understanding of land zoning. But it is no longer in keeping with
prevailing circumstances in which Government’s established policy has
shifted towards allowing different uses to occur at the same site. This established policy position is
amply confirmed by residential development projects above MTR stations, underground
flood-water buffer reservoirs beneath playing fields in Happy Valley and
Tai Hang Tung, and the use of caverns to house government facilities (such
as sewage treatment works, service reservoirs, refuse transfer stations).
- Air pollution from cars may be said to be a concern. But the Boston example has shown that this could
be managed. Anyway, numerous Hong Kong residential buildings are located right
next to busy roads. Air pollution cannot
be treated as a deterring factor.
- Engineering difficulties may be quoted as another cncern. However both examples from Boston and Seattle
show that substantial buildings can be constructed above major roads of
considerable width. Furthermore the
difficulty and cost are definitely less than re-provisioning a container
port, a proposal which the Task Force on Land Supply appears to be willing
to present to the public as an option for land supply.
7.
Conclusions and Recommendations to TFLS
- From the above discussions and the examples from overseas and
locally, it is clear that building above transport infrastructure is a
quick, cheap and engineering-feasible option to secure sites of
significant size for housing development.
- The five potential sites presented in this paper alone would
provide some 50 hectares of land which are easily accessible by public
transport and therefore favourably located for housing development. They could therefore serve as short- to
medium-term solutions for increasing land supply in Hong
Kong. It is believed
that more sites of similar nature could be identified given more effort.
- It is therefore recommended that TFLS:
i.
Take note of and affirm the
established policy of allowing different land uses stacked vertically above
selected land parcels, that is, the application of 3-dimensional approach to
town planning;
ii.
Urge Government to:
1.
instruct Planning Department
and Lands Department to adapt themselves in recognition of the established
policy of 3-d town planning and vertical stacking of land uses;
2.
study the five potential sites
and to identify further sites in Hong Kong suitable
for housing development above transport infrastructure;
iii.
Adopt housing development above
transport infrastructure as a land-supply option to be presented to the public
in the coming consultation exercise to seek public views and to establish
consensus on the prioritization of various land supply options.
References
1. 吳永順
Facebook Notes 2015年11月14日：「以立體思維規劃高密度都市」
http://bit.ly/2DyWSmU 內容提到：「可考慮在可行情況下，在公路及鐵路上加建社區、商業及綠化公共空間。此舉不但能在短期內提供土地及改善區內環境，亦能節省開發土地的資源」
