Lantau reclamation plans should be revived, property tycoon Gordon Wu says
Gordon Wu says Hong Kong should revive large-scale reclamation off Lantau and run it alongside the Northern Metropolis project.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
The Hopewell Holdings founder argues Hong Kong still lacks enough urban land, and that this shortage is worsening housing pressure and limiting growth. He says private investors will only follow once the government secures land ownership and transport links.
Gordon Wu is saying Hong Kong needs more room to grow, like a crowded house that needs an extra floor. He wants the city to make new land near Lantau again, not just rely on one big project near the border.
Analysis
What Wu is arguing
Gordon Wu, the 90-year-old founder and chairman of Hopewell Holdings, said Hong Kong should revive large-scale reclamation plans off Lantau Island and develop them alongside the Northern Metropolis project. His main point is that the city still does not have enough usable land, and that this shortage will continue to slow development as the population grows.
Wu linked the land constraint to Hong Kong’s housing affordability problem. He said that out of the city’s roughly 1,000 square kilometres of land, only about 25 per cent has been developed for residential and urban use, despite a population of about 7.5 million.
What he said about investment
Wu also sounded cautious about whether his own property group would commit to the Northern Metropolis any time soon. He said it was still "too early to say" whether Hopewell would follow other developers and invest in the mega project near the border with mainland China.
His explanation was practical rather than ideological: the land is not yet owned by the government, and transport links are still a public-sector responsibility. In his view, those are the first things that must be settled before private capital comes in.
Policy context
Chief Executive John Lee’s administration has put major emphasis on the 30,000-hectare Northern Metropolis as a growth engine for Hong Kong. Wu is not rejecting that plan, but he is arguing that it should not be the only answer. He wants reclamation off Lantau to return as a parallel option, which he says he has supported for decades.
Key points
- Gordon Wu wants Hong Kong to revive large-scale reclamation off Lantau Island.
- He says land scarcity is holding back development and contributing to housing pressure.
- Wu says the government must first secure land ownership and transport links before private investors will move in.
- He is unsure whether Hopewell Holdings will commit to the Northern Metropolis project yet.
- The government has focused heavily on Northern Metropolis as Hong Kong’s main growth engine.
If the government revisits reclamation, Hong Kong could have another path to add land for homes and development. That could help ease pressure on housing and give the city more room to grow alongside the Northern Metropolis.
If the plan stays sidelined, Hong Kong may remain dependent on the Northern Metropolis alone to solve its land shortage. The article also suggests private developers may keep waiting until land ownership and transport planning are clearer, which could slow investment.
