The public consultation document for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s five-year plan, unveiled on Monday, focuses on measures to fast-track the Northern Metropolis development; economic and financial affairs; innovation and technology; livelihoods, regional cooperation and the integration of culture, sports, and tourism.

As a two-month public consultation on the blueprint got underway, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Janice Tse Siu-wa stated that the plan is conceived to be “strategic, forward-looking, and operable”, in an “organic combination” with the authorities’ annual policy addresses and budgets to champion the city’s future growth.

According to Tse, the five-year plan would provide a macro-level policy framework and headline targets, while the granular work metrics would still be spelled out in other official documents, referring to the chief executive’s Policy Addresses.

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Tse said that she hoped all parts of society would contribute views and ideas to “break new ground for Hong Kong’s development”, and pledged that her bureau would work “flat out” under Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu for the plan’s formal release within the third quarter.

The public consultation accepts mail and email submissions until Aug 14. The blue-covered consultation paper will be distributed in all 18 districts across Hong Kong and posted to a dedicated website, with the HKSAR government also planning multiple consultation events to solicit views from the community.

Tse noted that the plan will clearly outline Hong Kong’s development vision and strategic direction over the next five years through 2030, covering areas such as the economy, industries, spatial planning, infrastructure, green transition, and people’s livelihoods.

She said the plan will aim to further capitalize on Hong Kong’s unique advantages under the “one country, two systems” framework to shore up its status as an international hub for finance, shipping, and trade, fast-track its emergence as a global innovation and technology center, and strengthen its role as a “core growth engine” for the wider Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

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Tse reaffirmed that Hong Kong’s first five-year plan will take the national 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) as an “important guide” to deepen the city’s integration into the nation’s overall development, to provide a “clear vision” for Hong Kong’s development across the board and to ensure that residents get to share the dividends of the city’s progress.

The fast-developing Northern Metropolis is the first of the six areas of the public consultation document.

The construction of Northern Metropolis should be guided by the principle of “planning-first, infrastructure-led, industry-driven, and livelihood-oriented”, with the project as part of a broader effort to achieve coordinated progress across industry, housing, leisure, and public services, the document states.

For policy directions, the document suggested the 30,000-hectare land development project must leverage a university town as a key “growth engine” to spur industrial growth through innovation and technology progress, while using the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone as a base to promote health and medical innovation and the bio-pharmaceutical industry.

The township should also offer an opportunity to improve the living conditions across the city, mainly through raising the average living space per person.

The consultation document also proposes that the local five-year plan include targets for the development project to generate more than 70,000 housing units and one million square meters of floor space for economic activities over the next five years.

The consultation document’s chapters follow the same structure, respectively titled “introduction”, “current situation”, “policy directions and key proposals”, and “matters for consultation”.

Contact the writer at wanqing@chinadailyhk.com