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Director's Message

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s return to the
Motherland in 2022, the Development Bureau and the Department jointly organised a special
exhibition themed “Envisioning Beyond Legacy” at the City Gallery to tell good stories of Hong
Kong from the town planning and infrastructure development perspectives. The exhibition showcased
the achievements in planning and infrastructure developments of Hong Kong in the past 25 years,
and presented the future urban planning of Hong Kong and promoted our vision of Hong Kong as a
liveable, competitive and sustainable Asia’s World City with innovative, smart and inclusive
exhibits. Through this exhibition, the public has gained a deeper understanding of Hong Kong’s urban
planning and a further insight into how the city would integrate into the overall development of the
Greater Bay Area and the country in the future.

To strengthen our close ties with cities in the Greater Bay Area, we have maintained
communication with relevant departments in the Mainland cities on respective planning efforts through
various channels. In December 2022, we held a joint planning co-operation meeting with the Planning
and Natural Resources Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality (PNRB), where we exchanged progress updates
on major planning projects, such as the latest development of the Northern Metropolis. We also engage
in timely information exchange on cross-boundary travel with the PNRB, the Transport Bureau of Zhuhai
Municipality, the Macao Transport Bureau and the Transport Bureau of Guangzhou Municipality. In
addition, staff from the planning departments in Hong Kong and Mainland China arrange mutual visits
from time to time. Following the PNRB’s trip to Hong Kong for field visits and discussions in April this
year, we visited the PNRB and conducted field visits in Shenzhen in May. We will also arrange visits to
other Greater Bay Area cities in the future to enhance communication and cooperation between Hong
Kong and those cities.

The Department proactively promoted youth development by organising a variety of activities
on a regular basis, including school visits, seminars, workshops, visits of the mobile exhibition centre,
the Summer Planning School programme, etc., with a view to enhancing young people’s understanding
of town planning and related professions. In 2022, the CEDD and the Department jointly organised
the “Building the Islands of the Future” Design Competition which aimed to enhance understanding
on green living, healthy community and sustainability among primary and secondary students, and to
encourage them to unleash their ideas and imagination of future living environment and lifestyle at the
Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands. The competition was well received with about 700 entries submitted.
Besides, over 700 students from secondary and primary schools participated in the Summer Planning
School programme. Looking forward, we will continue to collaborate with other departments and
organisations to organise activities related to urban development, enabling young people to have a more
comprehensive understanding on town planning, smart city, resilient city, etc.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to all my colleagues for their
dedication and perseverance in discharging duties during the pandemic over the past few years.
Upon resumption of normalcy, our colleagues continue to render full support and assistance to the
Government in enhancing land supply in terms of quantity, speed, efficiency and quality, whilst in
overcoming numerous challenges. I am confident that with concerted efforts, we shall be able to
serve the community with our four core values, namely, “Proactive and Facilitating”, “Open and
Accountable”, “Professional and Visionary” and “Effective and Efficient”.

Ivan Chung, JP
Director of Planning
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