W.M. TO

Urban development projects will certainly bring social and most importantly economic benefits. Yet, they may cause different environmental and social impact issues and therefore can result in public objections. The general practice of public engagement in Hong Kong typically involves stakeholders ’ group discussions and agreements with prominent individuals and organized interest groups which may not represent all the views from the public. As a society evolves, its citizens demand a more transparent, fair, and participative manner for the developments undertaken by the Government and private developers. Public participation becomes one of the essential tasks of project proponents to meet the expectations and to ease the concerns of the public on a wide range of environmental, social, health and safety impact issues associated with the projects. The need for effective public engagement is therefore being demanded in Hong Kong. It has, therefore, become necessary to undertake a review of the current approach of public consultation to meet today’s international best practice as well as the society’s demand. 1