The Northern Metropolis should not be just another new town designed to address Hong Kong’s housing and industrial needs. Rather, it must emerge as a zone of cultural emancipation that takes the GBA’s development to the next level.

Hong Kong’s developmental thinking has been trapped in the paradigm of large-scale transport infrastructure dictating urban planning. However, in an era where the technological hardware and network infrastructure are already quite sophisticated in China, particularly in the GBA – home to tech giants like Huawei, Tencent and DJI – the biggest challenge is no longer simply boosting connectivity, but rather understanding why we are connecting and what we are connecting to.

The next round of competition will be for cultural influence. The Northern Metropolis must reorient development from being property-led to prioritising innovation and cultural development.

As Hollywood films, Japanese anime and Korean K-pop export their respective cultures around the globe, the Northern Metropolis cannot be just another hub for technological development. Hong Kong should seize the opportunity to become a global cradle for cultural content.