21 November 2013

BJC Talk Series 15: Governance and Policy-making in a Society with Pluralistic Demands

Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, GBS, JP, Secretary for Transport and Housing, was invited to be the guest speaker at the 15th BJC Talk. Prof. Cheung shared the transport policy and housing problem for young people in Hong Kong. For long-term housing strategies, he outlined the difficulties of finding land for building new houses. He said that the community should consider whether they are determined to solve the housing problem.

Students asked why the government seemed to generate the impression that “only Northeast New Territories contains the land to build new houses”. Prof. Cheung explained that the government would not conduct the land resumption policy arbitrarily but would look for appropriate procedures to solve the problem. The development of Tsuen Wan and Sha Tin New Town in the past had undergone similar controversy. If there were other suitable lands, the government would consider possibilities for development. The speech of Prof. Cheung has greatly enhanced students’ understanding on the government’s transport and housing policies.