The government announced yesterday that it will launch a public consultation early next month on its draft of the urban development plan for the Zone A land reclamation.

The Lands and Urban Construction Bureau (DSSCU) announced the public consultation in a statement yesterday. The bureau also made the announcement in the Official Gazette (BO) yesterday.

The 60-day public consultation will run from October 7 to December 5.

The statement noted that the draft will be uploaded onto the bureau’s website on the first day of the public consultation.

Macau’s official urban master plan took effect in February this year when it was promulgated in the Official Gazette.

The Macau Special Administrative Region’s (MSAR) urban master plan for 2020 to 2040 divides the city into 18 “subareas for planning”.

The government has noted that only after the urban master plan takes effect, can it draft the respective detailed urban development plans for the 18 subareas.

The Zone A land reclamation area is covered by “eastern district 2”, one of the 18 subareas listed by the urban master plan.

The upcoming public consultation will be about the government’s draft of the detailed urban development plan for eastern district 2.

According to the Urban Planning Law and its supplementary administration regulation on the law’s implementation, the government is required to carry out a public consultation for its drafting of each of the 18 subareas’ detailed urban development plans.

Yesterday’s announcement means that eastern district 2 will be the government’s first draft of a detailed urban development plan for a subarea.

Zone A is primarily being developed for public housing projects, with only some plots earmarked for private residential projects. A raft of public housing projects are currently being carried out there.

Around 28,000 public housing units in total are slated to be built in Zone A. The majority of the public housing units in Zone A will be government-subsidised home-ownership scheme (HOS) flats, with the remaining being social rental housing units.

According to the Lands and Urban Construction Bureau’s technical report on its urban master plan, Zone A currently covers an area of around 1.4 square kilometres.

The report says that Zone A will be primarily earmarked for residential and green areas.

According to the report, the local government plans to further reclaim land in the waters between the north-eastern coast of the peninsula and the north-western coast of Zone A. After the new reclamation project is completed in the future, the report says, eastern district 2 will cover an area of around 1.7 square kilometres. The report also says that around 96,000 residents are expected to live in Zone A in the future.

The future reclaimed area between the peninsula and Zone A will be earmarked for green areas, according to the report.

According to the report, various social and recreational facilities will be constructed in Zone A, including schools. In addition, cultural and commercial facilities will be constructed in the southern area of Zone A. 

This handout photo taken from the Public Works Bureau’s (DSOP) website yesterday shows ongoing public housing projects in the Zone A land reclamation area last month.