The government announced yesterday that it will launch a public consultation late next month on proposed amendments to Macau’s urban master plan, in alignment with its ongoing planning of several future large-scale projects.
It will be the first time that the government amends the urban master plan since it came into force in February 2022.
The Lands and Urban Construction Bureau (DSSCU) announced the public consultation in a statement yesterday. The bureau also made the announcement in the Official Gazette (BO) yesterday.
The bureau is the public entity tasked with the city’s urban planning.
The 60-day public consultation will run between June 29 and August 27.
The statement noted that the draft will be uploaded onto the bureau’s website on the first day of the public consultation.
Yesterday’s announcements came after the government decided earlier this year to amend Macau’s urban master plan.
The government last year launched its first review of Macau’s urban master plan for possible amendments, in the wake of its planning of several future large-scale projects aiming to inject new impetus into Macau’s long-term development, which were first announced by Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai in his 2025 Policy Address, which he delivered in April last year.
The Macau Special Administrative Region’s (MSAR) urban master plan for 2020 to 2040 is the city’s first-ever official urban master plan, which took effect on February 15, 2022 after its promulgation in the Official Gazette on the previous day.
Macau’s urban master plan is promulgated by an administrative regulation drawn up by the government because of which it does not require the legislature’s approval.
Yesterday’s DSSCU statement said that the proposed amendments to Macau’s urban master plan aim to advance the implementation of three future large-scale government projects, comprising the Macau International Integrated Tourism and Cultural Zone, the Macau Science and Technology Research and Development Industrial Park, and the Macau International Aviation Hub for the Pearl River West Bank, three of the four announced in Sam’s 2025 Policy Address.
The other large-scale project announced in Sam’s 2025 Policy Address is the Macau-Hengqin International Education (University) Town. As it will be located in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, it will not be covered by the MSAR’s urban master plan.
According to the Urban Planning Law, the government is required to launch its review of the urban master plan for possible amendments five years after it came into force, i.e., in 2027.
According to the law, the government is also required to launch its review of the urban master plan if the government decides to launch large-scale public projects which are expected to cause significant impacts on land uses and urban planning listed by the urban master plan, regardless of the length of time the urban master plan has been implemented.
According to an executive order published in the gazette in February this year, Sam decided that Macau’s urban master plan will be amended for the first time.
Sam decided to amend the urban master plan after assessing a report prepared by DSSCU officials, as well as opinions gathered from the Urban Planning Council (CPU), according to the executive order.
The government-appointed council is a consultative body tasked with advising the government on its urban planning policies.
According to Sam’s executive order, the Lands and Urban Construction Bureau concluded that the urban master plan will need to be amended, after completing its first review of the plan, with the aim of creating the necessary conditions for the government to push ahead with its large-scale public projects.
According to the Urban Planning Law, a public consultation process is statutorily required for the government’s drafting of Macau’s urban master plan, and amendments to the urban master plan.
The government’s planned Macau International Integrated Tourism and Cultural Zone will include three major cultural facilities, namely the Macau National Museum of Culture, the Macau International Centre for Performing Arts, and the International Museum of Contemporary Art.
According to previous government announcements, the government proposes to construct the Macau National Museum of Culture on the waterfront area east of Macau Tower, while it proposes to build the Macau International Centre for Performing Arts on the west side of the Zone C land reclamation area off Taipa’s Ocean Gardens residential estate and to construct the International Museum of Contemporary Art on the east side of Zone C.
According to previous government announcements, the government proposes to set up two industrial parks, located separately from each other, for its planned Macau Science and Technology Research and Development Industrial Park project, namely the plot at the bottom of Big Taipa Hill, near the airport, previously earmarked for a sandwich-class housing project, and a plot on the Zone E1 land reclamation area off Taipa’s Pac On district.
This photo taken from Guia Hill earlier this year shows part of Macau’s cityscape. – Photo: Tony Wong
