Airport Core Programme
series of infrastructure projects centred on the Hong Kong International Airport in the 1990s
The Airport Core Programme, commonly known as the Rose Garden Project, was a series of infrastructure projects associated with the new Hong Kong International Airport and part of the Port and Airport Development Strategy.
The cost for the whole project was estimated at over HK$200 billion, and the Chinese Government was concerned about its impact on the financial reserve of the future Hong Kong Government. Several changes were made to the plan, including the shortening in distance of the two main towers of the Tsing Ma Bridge and the construction of the Airport Railway as a double-track railway, to reduce costs. The project ended up costing HK$160.2 billion.
The Programme formally commenced after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between British Prime Minister John Major and Chinese Premier Li Peng in Beijing on 3 September 1991, and lasted eight years in total. It was the most expensive airport project in the world, according to the Guinness World Records. It was the biggest infrastructure programme in Hong Kong's history.
History
Plans to replace the old Kai Tak Airport were drafted after the Second World War. However, for financial and political reasons, the plan was abandoned in 1951 and the Hong Kong Government decided to expand the original airport instead.
With the growth of the economy of Hong Kong during the 1970s, the project reemerged for discussion.
“Airport Core Programme” enters the record as series of infrastructure projects centred on the Hong Kong International Airport in the 1990s. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Airport, Core and Programme can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Airport Core Programme” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Airport, Core and Programme provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2828743. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1991 and 1951.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Airport Core Programme”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Airport Core Programme primary sources, Airport Core Programme archive and Airport research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Airport Core Programme”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Airport Core Programme” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.