Hong Kong unveils action agenda to develop Northern Metropolis

HONG KONG, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Monday unveiled an action agenda on the development of the Northern Metropolis, a planned area that is expected to help Hong Kong diversify its industries and integrate itself into overall development of the country.

The vision is to develop the Northern Metropolis into a "new international I&T city", integrating quality life, industry development, culture and leisure, and promoting a better home-job balance and green living, according to the agenda.

The agenda outlined the development positioning of the four major zones in the Northern Metropolis, namely the high-end professional services and logistics hub, the I&T zone, the boundary commerce and industry zone, and the blue and green recreation, tourism and conservation circle.

The Northern Metropolis will start to take shape in the coming five to 10 years, and the development will be substantially completed in 20 years, the agenda said.

Bernadette Linn, secretary for development of the HKSAR government, told a press conference that the planning of the Northern Metropolis will be industry-oriented, and its industrial positioning will take into consideration the development strategies in Shenzhen so that the two cities could generate development synergy.

The Northern Metropolis has an area of 30,000 hectares, around one-third of Hong Kong's total. It covers the Yuen Long and North districts and has a population of around 980,000, with about 400,000 residential units and about 134,000 job opportunities.