Hong Kong needs a mission for 2049 to focus its 5-year plans

Hong Kong is formulating its first five-year plan for economic and social development. Such plans are likely to become a regular feature of governance, and will shape how the city allocates land, builds housing and infrastructure, develops industries, trains talent and improves public services. They can also give government departments a common frame for action, rather than leaving them to operate in separate silos.Yet successive five-year plans should do more than set medium-term priorities. They should point towards a common destination, so that each plan becomes one stage in a longer journey rather than a self-contained list of tasks. The question is therefore not only what Hong Kong should do in the next five years, but what kind of city it seeks to become over the next two decades.Hong Kong can learn from China’s approach to long-term planning. China has set out clear milestones: by 2035, it aims to basically realise socialist modernisation; by the middle of this century – coinciding with the 2049 centenary of the People’s Republic – it aims to build a great modern socialist country in all respects and achieve national rejuvenation. These goals give China’s five-year plans a wider purpose and a recognisable direction of travel.