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Urban Land Grabbing: Analyzing Zones for Community Uses in Hong Kong

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Hansley Chua

    (School of Graduate Studies, Lingnan University, Hong Kong SAR, China)

  • Lawrence Wai Chung Lai

    (Ronald Coase Centre for Property Rights Research, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China)

Abstract

This study, as a contribution to the research on urban land grabbing (grabs) as a global phenomenon, seeks to evaluate the populist belief that developers swallow up urban land originally zoned for community purposes under Government, Institution and Community (GIC) zoning, thus depriving communities of space for their own benefit. The authors applied a systematic analysis of non-aggregate planning and development statistics to better interpret the features of the land market as regulated by zoning. Their research focuses on the salient features of redevelopment projects that enjoy successful planning applications and onsite development in GIC zones. They compared the planning and development statistics, obtained from the Planning Department’s website, of 425 approved GIC projects with those of the 261 Comprehensive Development Area (CDA) zone projects. Subject to the limitations of the data collected, the results qualify a negative view of land oligarchs (powerful land developers) who sought land under unitary ownership obtained in the past at nominal land premiums for quick windfalls. Particularly, GIC redevelopments were found to have proceeded much faster than CDA developments and, hence, were a natural attraction to developers, which were diverse, not exclusively private, and produced a few urban innovations during the redevelopment process.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Hansley Chua & Lawrence Wai Chung Lai, 2025. "Urban Land Grabbing: Analyzing Zones for Community Uses in Hong Kong," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-19, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:1:p:80-:d:1559748
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul Cheshire, 2018. "Broken Market or Broken Policy? The Unintended Consequences of Restrictive Planning," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 245(1), pages 9-19, August.
    2. Sarah Monk & Christine M. E. Whitehead, 1999. "Evaluating the Economic Impact of Planning Controls in the United Kingdom: Some Implications for Housing," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 75(1), pages 74-93.
    3. Saturnino M Borras & Jennifer C Franco, 2013. "Global Land Grabbing and Political Reactions ‘From Below’," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(9), pages 1723-1747, October.
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