‘University town’ will give Hong Kong campuses room to grow

A “university town” being developed on Hong Kong’s northern border will support the region’s institutions to compete with education hubs across Asia for international students, according to academics and policymakers.

Nineteen of Hong Kong’s universities, long constrained by the island’s limited size, plan to expand their operations in the Northern Metropolis University Town, a zone adjacent to mainland China.

The region, which was formerly rural land, has been newly envisaged by the authorities as an innovation zone designed to boost Hong Kong’s place on the global stage and enhance collaboration with the mainland.

Jeff Sze, Hong Kong’s under-secretary for education, told a government committee meeting: “We need to support Hong Kong to develop into an international post-secondary education hub and a cradle of future talents”.

For post-secondary institutions, the new town will provide sorely needed room to physically expand their campuses, offer student accommodation and develop new research spaces – some of which will be shared by several universities.

Proposed plans include establishing satellite campuses and launching self-financing programmes. One public institution, Hong Kong Baptist University, has asked to move all or part of its campus to the new town, the South China Morning Post reported.

Leaders hope that as well as providing more physical space for Hong Kong’s universities, the site will enable institutions to facilitate more exchanges with mainland China and attract more international students, following a decision last year to allow public universities to admit twice as many non-local undergraduates.

Mr Sze added that institutions moving into the area should “collaborate with renowned institutions on the mainland and overseas”.

“To build internationalised campuses, we need to provide a diversified cultural experience for local students,” he said.

Ka Ho Mok, vice-president of Lingnan University Hong Kong, said institutions could achieve this only with more space. “We are very keen to make our student learning experience more international by encouraging more students from overseas to come to Hong Kong for degree seeking or exchange. But our hands are tied because of the space, not only for teaching space and office space, but also the dormitories [and] the hostels,” he said.

The new town is expected to help Hong Kong stand out from other Asian cities, many of which are competing to attract international students from within the continent. Currently, Hong Kong benefits from offering more English-language courses and a higher concentration of top-ranked universities than its neighbours, giving it “a very strong reputation”, Professor Mok said. Increasing universities’ capacities and further internationalising campuses will enhance the appeal to prospective overseas students, he added.

As well as growing student numbers, the strategy is part of a bigger plan to establish Hong Kong as a research powerhouse and boost Beijing’s soft power.

“The Northern Metropolis will be an important vehicle to position Hong Kong as an international higher education hub and an important connector of mainland China with the global innovation and research ecosystem,” said Laurie Pearcey, associate vice-president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Professor Mok added: “Without very serious universities working together with the industries and different stakeholders, I think it would be very difficult to further enhance Hong Kong as an international innovation hub.”

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com