Gov't expands Northern Metropolis university town plans to 300 ha

The university towns will span more than 1000 hectares of land area.

Hong Kong has expanded its plans for university towns in the Northern Metropolis from more than 80 hectares originally set aside for a single town to about 300 hectares of campus areas across three locations.

The three university towns in San Tin, Hung Shui Kiu and Ta Kwu Ling will cover more than 1,000 hectares, including surrounding technology and industry areas and planned communities, Chief Executive John Lee said at the Global University Presidents and Leaders Summit 2026 on 27 October.

The San Tin University Town will focus on medicine, life and health technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, microelectronics and emerging industries.

It will be directly connected to the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone and San Tin Technopole.

Meanwhile, the Hung Shui Kiu University Town will become a centre for applied university education in smart manufacturing and global talent cultivation, with three campus sites covering about 26 hectares in total.

The Ta Kwu Ling University Town will incorporate arts and “blue-green” elements to support emerging, traditional and new industries.

Lee said Hong Kong will invite institutions to establish basic research institutes and large-scale shared research platforms in the university towns.

The developments form part of Hong Kong's First Five-Year Plan, which the government launched in September.