Since Kai Tak Airport closed in 1998, the future of the old airport has been under discussion, with a multitude of proposals for the 328-hectare site. Government planners have initially floated an idea of a cruise ship terminal, stadium, and a residential area whereby all roads are buried underground for a garden-style suburb.
The study on what to do to this site in southeast Kowloon dates back to 1991, when the Metroplan Selected Strategy, which recommended reclamation work be done on both banks of Victoria Harbour, was endorsed.
The development plans started taking shape after 1998, when the airport was relocated to Chek Lap Kok. Studies initially focused on turning Kai Tak into a "city within a city", featuring a variety of public and private housing developments.
Fierce public opposition forced planners to repeatedly revise their plans. The entire project was sent back to the drawing board after the Court of Final Appeal ruled last year against harbour reclamation unless it met the overriding public need test.
Threaded Mode