City planners and lawmakers, however, criticised the government for doing too little to address transport and employment needs in such areas to brace for the population boom.
Tung Chung on Lantau Island was only developed as a new town in the 1990s, after an international airport was planned at Chek Lap Kok.
Reclamation has continued since then, for both private and public housing, with the latest project aiming for an extension of 130 hectares to yield 40,800 flats in the first phase by 2024.
A new MTR stop will be added to the current Tung Chung line, along with the completion of the Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok link, that will provide a direct route through the northwestern New Territories.
But apart from that, residents in Tung Chung by 2026 will not have new routes into the heart of the city.
On the employment front, the government expects 143,000 new jobs generated in the area by then – an increase of 50 per cent in 10 years.
“Reclamation might be the easiest way to get available land for housing, but Tung Chung itself does not seem to be self-sufficient in that many residents may find it hard to get suitable jobs in the district,” said Ng Mee-kam, director of the urban studies programme at Chinese University.
“The pace of transport development is too slow and the current system may not be enough to serve the growing population, proving that government departments are not thorough in their planning.”
Tuen Mun, an old town ranking second in projected population growth rates, has also seen a recent surge in development with more private housing for the middle class.
The overall population in Hong Kong is set to rise by 6.7 per cent, reaching 7.82 million in six years, according to a 2018 estimate.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced in her policy address in 2018 that there would be a rethink on land use in Tuen Mun West, covering Lung Kwu Tan, the River Trade Terminal and other nearby stretches such as the Tuen Mun industrial areas 40 and 46, for future populations.
“It may be unprecedented to move some of the population to the outer bounds of the city, but they may not be able to afford a flat in the urban centre,” said lawmaker Andrew Wan Siu-kin, who serves the New Territories West constituency.
“But apparently the government has been bundling the Lantau Tomorrow Vision with all other infrastructural development.”Wan was referring to the HK$624 billion project to create a new housing and business hub with 1,000 hectares of man-made islands in the waters off Lantau Island, including 56km of roads and rail which would connect the islands to Sunny Bay and the River Trade Terminal in Tuen Mun, providing corridors to existing business centres such as Central.
But the plan has been put on hold under huge resistance from the legislature and the public.
Wan added: “It can also offer a closer connection with the mainland due to its proximity to Shenzhen, and that’s probably why Tuen Mun is getting more important.
“But without proper infrastructure, residents will only suffer.”
One consistent statistic among the changes would be in Kwun Tong, which was expected to maintain its record of the most populous district in the city at 740,000 residents by 2026.
Districts on Hong Kong Island are set to register a drop in population by an average of 4.7 per cent to some 1.2 million people in total.
Ng said the likely cause would be high property prices.
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