Low public approval for some Zone A proposals

The first five proposals in the planning for New Urban Zone A, including one related to the Zone’s population number, garnered only 45.8% of public approval.

The concluding report on the public consultation of the planning for the Zone was released yesterday by the Land and Urban Construction Bureau (DSSCU). It is available on the bureau’s website.

In the consultation documents, the first five proposals concerned the use and conditions for use of land on the Zone, and restrictions on public and private entities, as well as the expected population, which was set to 96,000 people.

The lowest approval rating – 44% – was found for the proposals on future road networks and means of transport on the Zone. The government has proposed that the Light Rapid Transit will be a transport backbone on the Zone, while two north-south and two east-west main roads will outline the entire road network.

In contrast, people did not much oppose the proposal for the construction of a pedestrian-friendly district, with a 65.4% approval rate.

The most highly supported proposal is the one on greening and green corridors, which garnered a 75.3% approval rate.

Members of the public were not very enthusiastic in proactively providing feedback. The consultation has received 1,283 statements of opinion, of which only 385 were submitted unprompted, accounting to 30% of all feedback. The bureau distilled them into 6,170 opinions.

The bureau has also conducted data digging and collected 238 submissions from traditional media – including online-print hybrid media – and 660 from online platforms and social media.

Each submission or entry online or each speech made at public consultation sessions was considered an instance of feedback, the bureau noted.

The consultation was conducted between Oct. 7 and Dec. 5, 2022. Six consultation seminars were organized with half catering to the general public. The six sessions accommodated 360 attendees with 72 speeches from the audience.

Construction on and near the Zone is in full swing, even though the final report has only just been released.