Aedas’ Member of the Board Keith Griffiths moderated a panel discussion at the RICS Hong Kong Annual Conference 2013. Keith, an internationally experienced urban planner and designer, encouraged discussion on the latest office space trends in Hong Kong.
CBRE, a global property consultancy, warned that Hong Kong is likely to face a shortage of around four to eight million square feet of office space by 2020, which equates to four to eight office towers the size of Two IFC in Central. The panellists, including Dr Nick Axford, Executive Director, Head of Research, Asia Pacific, CBRE; Raymond Chow, Executive Director of Hongkong Land; Raymond Lee, Head of Energizing Kowloon East Office, Development Bureau, Hong Kong; Michael Moir, Director of Property, Hong Kong Jockey Club; and Robert Torrance, Managing Director of Asia Real Estate, Manulife Financial, shared their opinions on the current condition and future provision of office space in Hong Kong.
With the government actively facilitating the transformation of Kowloon East to become the next premier central business district of Hong Kong, the panel questioned the lack of a government master plan with a clear vision and placemaking.
The panellists also stressed the importance of having a Hong Kong-wide master plan to clearly define land utilisation, new districts, planning criteria and programme of land availability.
Keith is a founder of Aedas International Limited who has more than 35 years of experience in high-rise, high-density building and environment designs. He leads Aedas’ wide portfolio of over 80 completed, significant high-rise buildings across Asia, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East to date. Keith is an Honorary Fellow of University of Wales, Honorary Professor of the University of Hong Kong and Director of the Link Retail Management in Hong Kong, lecturing widely upon urban densification, cityscape and urban land utilisation.
Themed ‘Riding the Wave of Competition’, the fifth RICS Hong Kong Conference took place today with highfliers from the New York City, London and Hong Kong shared their insights on the competitive landscapes from both global and local perspective. They also explored how Hong Kong can stay at the front of the competition.
