The Lok Ma Chau Loop is a small piece of riverside land transferred to
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
by
Mainland China
"Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...
on 3 January 2017. It is the proposed development site for the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park.
History
Until the late 1990s, the Lok Ma Chau Loop was a part of
Mainland China
"Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...
. When some engineering work was done to straighten the winding Sham Chun River, the natural border moved north and effectively left the landmass of the loop only accessible from Hong Kong. Dispute of ownership of the land continued until recent years. However, when the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park was announced, an agreement concerning the technology park led to the resolution of the land dispute, with the Lok Ma Chau Loop having been transferred to Hong Kong
Political status
With a land area of only 0.97 km2, the Lok Ma Chau Loop is currently the only
unincorporated area
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in Hong Kong. Because every piece of land in
Mainland China
"Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...
unincorporated area
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
under the
jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...
of the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, colloquially known as LegCo, is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under People's Republic of China, China's "one country, two systems" c ...
, lodged an inquiry to various local authorities on 29 March 2019, urging them to take the necessary steps to incorporate the Lok Ma Chau Loop into one of the 18
districts of Hong Kong
Hong Kong is administratively divided into 18 districts. Each district has a district councils of Hong Kong, district council.
District councils was formerly called district boards, for which the boards were established in 1982,North District or Yuen Long District).
Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park
The Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park is a proposed new hi-tech development at the border between
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
and
Shenzhen
Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. It is located in Hong Kong's
New Territories
The New Territories (N.T., Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: ) is one of the three areas of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of H ...
near the area of Lok Ma Chau, adjacent to the Sham Chun River.
The development of the technology park was announced on 3 January 2017 during a joint ceremony by the governments of Hong Kong and Shenzhen. When completed, it will be the largest technology park in Hong Kong with a land area of 87 hectares and is expected to boost the city's global position in technology and provide an incubator for technology start-ups.
Details of the development
Once developed, the technology park is expected to provide 1.2 million square metres of additional office spaces to be used by Hong Kong and Shenzhen companies.
The technology park is expected to be managed by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation.
Criticism
Environmental
The proposed park is located in a current green land area, a buffer zone between the urban agglomerations of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Environmental groups claim the park is located in an important flightpath for migratory birds. The wetlands form an ecosystem that continues west along Sham Chun River and the development may thus affect Deep Bay. The Hong Kong wetland park and the Mai Po Marshes are also along this route. The groups estimate the loss of 4,000 trees, 11 hectares of reed marsh and 9 hectares of ponds.
In addition, it is thought that the current marsh land site contains significant amounts of contaminated mud which may pose an environmental risk and a challenge to decontaminate.
Rationale
Hong Kong has two existing high-profile business and technology parks, Cyberport on Hong Kong Island and Science Park, also in the New Territories. Both were conceived in the wake of the 1997 Asia financial crisis in order to boost technology investments, but their uptake has been slow and is only just starting to come to fruition. Cyberport especially has been marred with image problems, starting from its delayed development to its lack of commercial success.
Lok Ma Chau loop has been claimed to be at risk of falling into some of the same traps as Cyberport. On the other hand, some local business groups welcome the technology park, but are mindful of lessons that can be gleaned from previous technology park developments.
Questions have been raised whether the true ambition of the government is to support the technology industry, or to obtain land for profitable real estate development.
Alternative use
During the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, the site was developed to host an isolation and treatment centre as part of the Omicron variant surge in early 2022. A temporary bridge connection Hong Kong and Shenzhen was erected to facilitate the free flow of workers and construction materials. The site is intended to be providing 50,000 beds, staffed also by care workers from mainland China.