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1. HK part of Pearl delta mega-city blueprint

2. Picture of Day

3. Plan maps out Shenzhen's future as a hub for high-end services

4. Rejuvenation plans for old areas could push up prices

5. Development density for Stanley Ho's plan revealed

1. HK part of Pearl delta mega-city blueprint
LEU SIEW YING in Guangzhou, SCMP 21 January 2005

A draft long-term blueprint for the Pearl River Delta's development that includes a plan for an urban cluster around Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Shenzhen, stretching south to Hong Kong's business district, has been approved by the Guangdong People's Congress Standing Committee.

Experts at the Guangdong Urban Development and Research Centre, who helped draw up the plan, and others at Sun Yat-sen University's Pearl River Delta Research Centre said there were no political or administrative implications in the inclusion of Hong Kong.

"The basic concept of the plan is that Hong Kong depends on the Pearl River Delta for its development to be sustained," said a director at the Guangdong Urban Development and Research Centre. "The driving force for Hong Kong's development is the mainland.

"There is no administrative significance since we still have `one country, two systems'.

"What is most significant is that the plan would integrate Hong Kong more closely with the mainland."

Pearl River Delta Research Centre director Chen Guanghan said the plan had been drafted from Guangdong's point of view.

"We are talking about regional co-operation within the framework of `one country, two systems' and Cepa," he said referring to the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement signed between the central government and Hong Kong.

Professor Chen also dismissed suggestions that the plan was designed to make Guangzhou the leading city in the Pearl River Delta.

"Guangdong has already said Hong Kong is the dragon head, but it can only draw up a development plan for the province with Guangzhou and Shenzhen as the core cities. But this does not mean Hong Kong is not a core city."

The draft development plan envisages a population of 65 million people living in an area of 7,000 sq km by 2020. It says the delta's gross domestic product could range from 3.6 trillion to 7.3 trillion by 2020.

To reach the targets, Guangdong will focus on building up its industrial base, expanding the supply of raw material to the Pearl River Delta and improving transport.

The paper identified several industries to be developed, including the manufacturing of equipment for liquefied natural gas distribution and ship engines.

The plan does not list any new transportation projects, however, it does mention the ongoing construction of a railway hub in Panyu and the completion of Baiyun International Airport and Nansha port.

2. Picture of Day
SCMP 21 January 2005 Photo: Reuters

Anastasia Myskina focuses on the ball.

3. Plan maps out Shenzhen's future as a hub for high-end services
CHOW CHUNG-YAN in Shenzhen, SCMP 21 January 2005

The plan sees Shenzhen becoming a high-end services centre.

Shenzhen should focus on developing logistics, financial, foreign trade and exhibition business, the plan says, and continue to build up port facilities, airport and railway systems. It also says Shenzhen should strengthen co-operation with Hong Kong.

Chen Guanghan , director of the Pearl River Delta Research Centre, said: "[In] the plan, Shenzhen's role as the financial centre of southern China will be consolidated.

"The central government will further relax rules and policies to help Shenzhen build up its capital market. Hong Kong banks and financial institutes will be in an excellent position to benefit from these developments."

He said the city also needed to attract more Hong Kong professionals. "This will give even more opportunities to Hong Kong accountants, lawyers and other professionals to expand their business on the mainland," he said.

Shenzhen Mayor Li Hongzhong said last week that the city would shift its development focus from speed to quality. He told cadres at a Communist Party meeting that it was time for Shenzhen to aim for quality investment instead of low-end projects.

4. Rejuvenation plans for old areas could push up prices
PEGGY SITO, SCMP 21 January 2005

Government plans to expedite urban rehabilitation and redevelopment have cheered up players in the property markets of some older districts.

Shamshuipo and Hunghom, where aged properties are found in abundance, have been earmarked as areas to benefit.

"A new look and better growth potential can be expected," said Knight Frank valuation director Anthony Lau Chun-kuen.

The Hong Kong Housing Society is to spend $3 billion over the next 10 years to help flat owners revamp and maintain their ageing properties.

Lau Chong-kong, regional director at Jones Lang LaSalle, said that the value of ageing properties would rise as the older districts took on a new look.

The Langham Place redevelopment in Mongkok was cited as an example.

The project, an office-retail-hotel complex of more than 1.75 million sq ft, is a joint venture of Great Eagle Holdings and the Urban Renewal Authority.

Great Eagle has spent 15 years and $10.5 billion on Langham Place, which incorporates Shanghai Street, Argyle Street and Portland Street. Meanwhile, the swish project has had a positive impact on the neighbourhood.

"We can see the surrounding areas changing since the completion of Langham Place last October," said Mr Lau, who pointed to a number of new stores and shops in the area.

He said the government should not focus only on maintaining old buildings but also on improving the infrastructure so as to attract more investors.

Centaline Property Holdings chairman Shih Wing-ching predicted the value of aged properties would rise, but he said growth potential was limited.

"It will take a long time to revamp old areas."

Midland Realty executive director Victor Cheung Kam-shing said investors would be more attracted to the variety of choices in new districts than to old neighbourhoods.

5. Development density for Stanley Ho's plan revealed
JOSEPH LO, SCMP 21 January 2005

Tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun has revealed further details of his alternative approach to developing the controversial West Kowloon cultural hub, saying that his plan involved a development density of roughly five times the plot ratio.

The property and casino tycoon also said he would give his colleagues in the Real Estate Developers Association, a few more weeks to consider his alternative plan.

Mr Ho spoke yesterday after a general meeting of Melco International Development shareholders approved the establishment of a joint venture with Australia's richest man, Kerry Packer of Publishing and Broadcasting.

He said his proposal for the West Kowloon project - which provides an alternative to the government's preferred single-consortium approach and the three proposals already shortlisted - included a development density of about five times the plot ratio on the site, "not the 100 times ratio that had been speculated" in some reports.

The plot ratio is the relationship between developed floor space and the property's site area.

When the government originally issued requests for proposals from developers in 2003, it suggested a plot ratio of no more than 1.81 times.

All three of the shortlisted proposals exceed that limit.

"My plan has a plot ratio of five times, not 100 times. And I've already said that my plan would bring the government $210 billion in profit, not $600 billion," Mr Ho said.

"If you consider that Kowloon has an average plot ratio of 12 times, I think it would be reasonable to build up the West Kowloon site to 8 or 10 times. But I think five times is enough, as there is no need to build everything so tall."

Earlier this month, Mr Ho gathered together more than a dozen property developers to discuss an alternative to the government's approach.

He has not made his plan public, but it is understood that it proposes dividing the 40-hectare area into a number of smaller sites.

"We will give the other fellows a few more weeks to consider the plan, we won't have a response so fast," he said.

The three shortlisted proposals are from Dynamic Star International, a joint venture of Cheung Kong (Holdings) and Sun Hung Kai Properties; Sunny Development, a consortium of Sino Land, Wharf (Holdings) and Chinese Estates Holdings; and World City Culture Park, a subsidiary of Henderson Land Development.

Smaller developers have objected to the plan, and have lobbied for the government to divide the project into smaller pieces to allow them to take part.