School of Humanities and Social Science Division of Social Science 211 Evaluate Economic Impacts of Metro Rail in Hong Kong Supervisor: WANG Wen / SOSC Student: NG Kai Yuen Dominic / QSA Course: UROP1100, Fall High-quality public transport and public services attract more people to the railway stations and arouse appreciation in residential and commercial properties. Housing owners and local businesses gain from such changes while housing renters lose. The socio-demographic changes and the labor market changes can further redistribute the welfare among different residents. We combine the data of GHS and HK_POI with demographic characteristics and data about the areas around stations, such as housing, shopping malls, and offices, to analyze the demographic and distributional changes. The analyses are indispensable for policy implications such as the operation of a metro rail system, the provision of public housing, and the consideration of social equality and efficiency. Evaluate Economic Impacts of Metro Rail in Hong Kong Supervisor: WANG Wen / SOSC Student: WU Kwan Yu / QSA Course: UROP1100, Fall With the rapid population growth and urbanization, big cities such as New York, Chicago, Beijing, and Shanghai are developing and expanding public transit systems, especially the metro rail system. Most of these public infrastructures incur huge deficits. However, Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation (MTRC) has been highly profitable. MTR has expanded its business by constructing new lines. Until 2021, the total route length of MTR’s railway system is 197.1 km compared to 175 km in 2014. MTRC earned the most profit from the properties surrounding the metro rail stations instead of the operations of the metro rail lines. This is a business model promoted and implemented in Hong Kong ---“Rail plus Property” (R+P) model ---in which the government grants MTRC with land development rights along the route.
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