{"id":21792,"date":"2026-09-13T04:47:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T04:47:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=21792"},"modified":"2026-09-13T04:47:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T04:47:30","slug":"hong-kong-homes-flattened-for-us28-bn-high-tech-hub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=21792","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong homes flattened for US$28 bn high-tech hub"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-right:0;padding-left:0\">\n<p>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\u2019s Hong Kong village home will soon be bulldozed to make way for a vast tech hub.<\/p>\n<p>An area roughly a third of Hong Kong including villages, natural wetlands and farmland is being converted into the \u201cNorthern Metropolis\u201d, an ambitious project aimed at deepening integration with the mainland,\u00a0diversifying the economy and providing new homes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t bear to leave\u2026 If not for the government developing this area, I would likely spend the rest of my life here. After all, I belong here,\u201d Chan told AFP as he packed up belongings in his yard.<\/p>\n<p>Touted as a \u201cnew economic engine\u201d to accommodate around 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But the government\u2019s vision for a Silicon Valley-like high-tech hub in Hong Kong comes at a huge cost to the city\u2019s wildlife, local communities and public finances, environmental and social groups warned.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf 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,\u201d said Brian Wong of Liber Research Community, an NGO focused on land issues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo we need to build it so big? Is it too ambitious?\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Return on investment \u2013<\/p>\n<p>The Northern Metropolis project, announced five years ago, will eventually cover 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres).<\/p>\n<p>Liber said at least 25 villages will be demolished to make way for it.<\/p>\n<p>Government departments told AFP they aim to integrate rural areas into the development project, but that Chan\u2019s ancestral houses were not culturally significant enough to preserve.<\/p>\n<p>Plans to integrate Hong Kong with mainland China have long faced opposition in the former British colony, where critics warn such moves would erode the city\u2019s autonomy.<\/p>\n<p>But a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in 2020 after huge pro-democracy protests has stymied dissent in the financial hub.<\/p>\n<p>It \u201ceffectively put an end to the \u2018one country, two systems\u2019 framework that allowed Hong Kong a \u2018high degree of autonomy\u2019, so greater integration with the Greater Bay Area would logically follow,\u201d Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute, told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>The government says the Northern Metropolis will cost at least HK$224 billion (US$28.6 billion), while global ratings agency S&amp;amp;P estimates it could top HK$360 billion.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities have promised a return on investment, citing bank estimates \u2014 and a rough 20-year timeline \u2014 that the project will account for 13 percent of Hong Kong\u2019s gross domestic product.<\/p>\n<p>Tech hubs across the border in mainland China, such as Alibaba\u2019s hometown of Hangzhou, are expanding far faster, spurred by AI investors such as Deepseek and Unitree Robotics.<\/p>\n<p>Hong Kong is \u201cless relevant for China\u2019s national tech ambitions\u201d than mainland powerhouses like Shenzhen, said Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis.<\/p>\n<p>But it can nevertheless provide what they cannot: international connections, university research, and deep capital markets.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 \u2018Sacrifice\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s area.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>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.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith that flow, more manpower coming in, talent coming in\u2026 forefign companies will also gradually (invest),\u201d Jeong said. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The biggest hurdle to the Northern Metropolis\u2019 success is \u201chow to maintain an efficient cross-border flow, and at the same time maintaining the confidence that the international community has in Hong Kong\u2019s uniqueness\u201d, said Wilson Chan, co-founder of the Pagoda Institute think tank.<\/p>\n<p>In her village, Niki So had watched helplessly as her neighbours\u2019 homes were torn down, waiting for the bulldozers to reach the house where her family lived for three generations.<\/p>\n<p>The 42-year-old received a public housing flat in compensation, but told AFP she will miss the village where neighbours are like family.<\/p>\n<p>In July, So opened her gate to dozens of lands department officials and police, who declared the area government property.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope the development here will go well, that it will thrive,\u201d So said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf it doesn\u2019t turn out as expected then I think the sacrifice of this village would be quite unfortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; 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display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t\r\n<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114303\" data-width=\"125\" data-height=\"125\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114303});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u7ad6\u680f\uff1a160\u00d7600 \u6574\u5217\u9ad8\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row:3\/8; height:600px;  display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114301\" data-width=\"160\" data-height=\"600\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114301});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<br \/> Hong Kong homes flattened for US$28 bn high-tech hub<br \/>\n<br \/>#Hong #Kong #homes #flattened #US28 #hightech #hub<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chan Yuk-tong hoped to spend his remaining years in the row of small, blue-brick houses&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[9518,14919,5387,3403,1032,3434,16014],"class_list":["post-21792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-flattened","tag-hightech","tag-homes","tag-hong","tag-hub","tag-kong","tag-us28"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/64033bc7d118d809dec2278bcd3778f0ce7ada22.jpg",768,512,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/64033bc7d118d809dec2278bcd3778f0ce7ada22-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/64033bc7d118d809dec2278bcd3778f0ce7ada22-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/64033bc7d118d809dec2278bcd3778f0ce7ada22.jpg",640,427,false],"large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/64033bc7d118d809dec2278bcd3778f0ce7ada22.jpg",640,427,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/64033bc7d118d809dec2278bcd3778f0ce7ada22.jpg",768,512,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/64033bc7d118d809dec2278bcd3778f0ce7ada22.jpg",768,512,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/64033bc7d118d809dec2278bcd3778f0ce7ada22.jpg",768,512,false],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/64033bc7d118d809dec2278bcd3778f0ce7ada22-768x500.jpg",768,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/64033bc7d118d809dec2278bcd3778f0ce7ada22.jpg",768,512,false],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/64033bc7d118d809dec2278bcd3778f0ce7ada22-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/64033bc7d118d809dec2278bcd3778f0ce7ada22-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?cat=7\" rel=\"category\">Stories<\/a>","tag_info":"Stories","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}