A Rawlsian Model of Land Justice for Hong Kong: The Controversy on the Development of the North New Territories

I adopt a Rawlsian model in analysing the challenge recently faced by the Hong Kong government regarding its governance of the land development. The challenge is illustrated with the stakeholders’ debates on three case studies: the brownfield sites, Fanling Golf Course and the private agricultural land reserve. The Rawlsian model adopted here aims to unfold the dialectics of the land controversy and identify the Rawlsian solution. For this purpose, expounded are certain important Rawlsian concepts, including the distinction between rationality and reasonableness. In conclusion, I argue that, while an immediate political reconciliation seems unlikely, the possibility of such a reconciliation is open in the long run if one grasps the crux of the stakeholders’ dialectics and recognizes the intricate interconnection of the overlapping consensus in the constitutional and institutional levels on the political conception of justice.