Hong Kong flattens ancestral villages for US$28 billion Northern Metropolis tech hub

Hong Kong is demolishing villages, wetlands and farmland across an area roughly a third of its territory to build the Northern Metropolis, a US$28.6 billion high-tech hub. The project aims to house 2.5 million residents and create 650,000 jobs, but critics warn of severe environmental and social cos

HONG KONG: Chan Yuk-tong hoped to spend his remaining years in the row of small, blue-brick houses where he was born and raised, but the 71-year-old's Hong Kong village home will soon be bulldozed to make way for a vast tech hub. An area roughly a third of Hong Kong including villages, natural wetlands and farmland is being converted into the "Northern Metropolis", an ambitious project aimed at deepening integration with mainland China, diversifying the economy and providing new homes.

"I can't bear to leave ... If not for the government developing this area, I would likely spend the rest of my life here. After all, I belong here," Chan told AFP as he packed up belongings in his yard. Touted as a "new economic engine" to accommodate about 2.5 million residents and provide 650,000 jobs, the project will link Hong Kong more closely with Macau and nine cities in mainland China that make up the Greater Bay Area.

But the government's vision for a Silicon Valley-like high-tech hub in Hong Kong comes at a huge cost to the city's wildlife, local communities and public finances, environmental and social groups warned. "If you build a new city in a place that was well preserved before, it would inevitably be very destructive, no matter how you mitigate it," said Brian Wong of Liber Research Community, an NGO focused on land issues. "Do we need to build it so big? Is it too ambitious?" he added.

The Northern Metropolis project, announced five years ago, will eventually cover 30,000ha. Liber said at least 25 villages will be demolished to make way for it. Government departments told AFP they aim to integrate rural areas into the development project, but that Chan's ancestral houses were not culturally significant enough to preserve.

The government says the Northern Metropolis will cost at least HK$224 billion (US$28.6 billion), while global ratings agency S&P estimates it could top HK$360 billion. Authorities have promised a return on investment, citing bank estimates — and a rough 20-year timeline — that the project will account for 13 per cent of Hong Kong's gross domestic product.

Last month, the first large-scale land sale in the Northern Metropolis was awarded to a consortium of six companies, including Chinese state-owned enterprises and e-commerce giant JD.com, to build housing and a logistics centre in Chan's area. Hannah Jeong of commercial real estate firm CBRE told AFP that policy support will first attract mainland Chinese companies wanting to build research centres and take advantage of its lower taxes and talent, data and capital flows.

In her village, Niki So had watched helplessly as her neighbours' homes were torn down, waiting for the bulldozers to reach the house where her family lived for three generations. The 42-year-old received a public housing flat in compensation, but told AFP she will miss the village where neighbours are like family. "I hope the development here will go well, that it will thrive," So said. "If it doesn't turn out as expected then I think the sacrifice of this village would be quite unfortunate."