Task force considers plan to build podium housing over Hong Kong roads and railways
Group says plan is possible despite significant technical challenges
Building housing on top of Hong Kong’s busy transport hubs is “not impossible” but faces technical hurdles, a government-appointed committee on boosting land supply said on Tuesday.
The option was earlier suggested by the Hong Kong Countryside Foundation, a charity dedicated to conserving the city’s countryside, saying housing could be built on elevated podiums above transport interchanges, highways, railways and roadside areas.
The Task Force on Land Supply, which discussed proposals aimed at boosting land supply in a meeting on Tuesday, said housing in transport hubs would be considered a medium-to-long term option, but it would pose engineering challenges.
“Although not impossible, there are a lot of technical challenges that perhaps require substantial engineering studies to facilitate these particular developments to move forward,” said task force chairman Stanley Wong Yuen-fai.
The foundation suggested five sites which had development potential, such as the Pat Heung railway depot and the road interchange at Yau Ma Tei. But Wong cited a number of technical considerations to build over the 10-hectare site above Yau Ma Tei interchange, which covers a section of the West Kowloon highway and a number of elevated roads.
