Policy address 2026: Expert questions government expectations on expanding new university town

The Northern Metropolis University Town will expand to about 300 hectares, as announced in the Policy Address 2026 today, more than triple the size in a 2025 press release from the Development Bureau.

The University Town is intended to resolve insufficient land resources, providing more space for the development of innovation and technology, higher education and the cultivation for high caliber talents. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said today this town will become the main development thrust of the Northern Metropolis.

The town also encourages institutions from the mainland and overseas to establish campuses in the area, according to the consultation document before the announcement of Hong Kong’s five-year plan.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the government has prepared HK$10 billion in loans to assist the campus development in the Northern Metropolis in his 2026 budget speech.

“For now, the return of investing in the university town is uncertain,” said Terence Chong Tai-leung, Executive Director of the Lau Chor Tak Institute of Global Economics and Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Chong said this depends primarily on its ability to attract major companies, yet those companies will not locate there based simply because of the surrounding infrastructure and that the government should adopt a public-private partnership model. 

“By providing land use to universities free of charge, while the universities themselves are responsible for constructing campus infrastructure. The government could then share the profits once the project becomes profitable,” he said.

According to the Government's e-Tendering System, the estimated tender values for San Tin Technopole's supporting facilities,connected to the University Town, exceed HK$1.2 billion in Q3 and Q4 alone this year.

Liu Xiao, owner of Golden Harbour Group Limited, a real estate company, said the long-term outlook for real estate around the university town is positive, though short-term returns are unlikely, especially if the current economic climate worsens.

“The main risk is that demand in this area will not meet expectations. As it takes time for people to move in, demand may remain unstable and drag down selling prices in the area,” Liu said.