About Planning Department

Organisation

The organisation chart of the Department as at December 31, 2009 is at Appendix 1.

Establishment and Strength

The establishment and strength of different grades in the Department as at the end of 2009 are summarised as follows :

Key Responsibility

The Department is responsible for formulating, monitoring and reviewing urban and rural planning policies, plans and associated tasks for the physical development of Hong Kong. It deals with all matters relating to land-use planning at the territorial and district levels.

At the territorial level, the emphasis is on medium to long-term planning strategies for the whole territory.  At the district level, the emphasis is on forward planning, development control and planning enforcement to meet the district requirements.

We also provide both professional and secretarial services to the Town Planning Board (TPB) to perform its statutory planning functions under the provision of the Town Planning Ordinance.  Readers may wish to refer to the TPB Annual Report for a more detailed description of the activities of the TPB.

Hierarchy of Plans

Hong Kong's planning system comprises development strategies at the territorial level and various types of statutory and departmental plans at the district/local level. Guiding the preparation of these plans is the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines.

Hierarchy of Plans

Territorial Development Strategy
The Territorial Development Strategy aims at providing a broad planning framework to guide future development and the provision of strategic infrastructure in Hong Kong.  It also serves as a basis for the preparation of district plans.

Various Types of Town Plans
At the district level, statutory plans in the form of Outline Zoning Plans (OZP) and Development Permission Area Plans (DPA Plan) are prepared and gazetted under the Town Planning Ordinance. These plans :

• regulate development through specifying the types of permitted land-uses and in some cases development parameters on individual parcels of land within Hong Kong;

• reserve land for various types of uses; and

• help monitor the implementation of land-use proposals.

Departmental plans in the form of Outline Development Plans and Layout Plans are also prepared for more detailed planning.

Readers may wish to refer to the schedules of the statutory plans and departmental plans which have been uploaded onto the Planning Department web site for public information.

Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines
It is a reference manual setting out the scale, location and site requirements of various land-uses and facilities. It also encompasses guidelines on nature conservation and urban design. It is used in the preparation of town plans, planning briefs and the scrutiny of development proposals.

Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines

Land Reservation

Through the preparation of town plans, we reserve suitable sites for various kinds of land-uses to satisfy social and economic needs while minimising the adverse impact on the environment.

Reservation of land for Government, institution or community facilities	Reservation of land for commercial development
Reservation of land for public housing	Reservation of land for open space

Urban Renewal

Some parts of our city have a high concentration of old buildings with poor physical conditions and inadequate basic facilities.  The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) is entrusted to undertake urban renewal works according to the policy framework set out in the Urban Renewal Strategy prepared by the Government.  A comprehensive approach, comprising 'redevelopment', 'rehabilitation', 'revitalisation' and 'heritage preservation', is employed to revive the urban old districts.  The Strategy emphasizes the need for an 'people-oriented' approach, which involves extensive public consultation and discussions with various stakeholders, and the importance of balancing the interests and needs of all sectors of the community in the urban renewal process.

The Planning Department co-ordinates with the URA to ensure the development projects would meet local needs, community aspirations and planning objectives of urban renewal projects.   In particular, administrative arrangement has been made for the public inspection of URA’s draft development scheme plan prior to consideration by TPB and publication of the plan under the Town Planning Ordinance.  In so doing, TPB can consider URA’s submission together with the public comments received when deciding whether the draft development scheme plan is suitable for publication under the Town Planning Ordinance.  When the development scheme plans is published, members of the public will have another opportunity to make representations and comments on the representations under the Town Planning Ordinance.

The URA Cherry Street Redevelopment Project (Florient Rise)

Before redevelopment   After redevelopment

Planning Studies

Planning studies play a vital role in the formulation of development strategies and planning standards and preparation of town plans. They serve primarily as a means to investigate, substantiate or verify planning issues, intentions or concepts, and provide a basis for formulating and evaluating proposals. Appendix 2 is a list of consultancy studies undertaken by the Planning Department in 2009.