Macau to expand by 3.6 square km

CEO Edmund Ho Hau-wah, said that the State Council requested the SAR “manage and reinforce protection of the surrounding environment and also fully perform the construction role of the new urban area” during the reclamation process.

The government must also make good use of the opportunity and resort to scientific planning and development concepts to build Macau’s new city step-by-step, Ho said. The new urban area is estimated to have a population capacity of around 120,000 and support Macau’s next 20 years of development.

According to the plan, reclamation will be carried out in the city’s northeast corner, Taipa’s western, central and eastern parts. In April 2008, Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Lau Si Io, told the Legislative Assembly - based on the central government technical advice – that the government had to enlarge the reclamation size to 500 hectares.

However, a year later Lau told the assembly that the reclamation size had to be reduced to 400 hectares, and no gaming facilities or low-density residential projects such as villas would be allowed.

The Macau-Taipa new city reclamation project was first mentioned in the 2006 Policy Address. In January 2006, disgraced transport and public works secretary, Ao Man Long, presented the initial proposal involving a reclamation of 398 hectares.

The new part of the city will comprise a large degree of public facilities and green space, as well as reserving land for public housing and the development of industries to diversify Macau’s economy.