Ngong Ping 360

Ngong Ping 360 (NP360) was officially opened in late 2006. The project, comprising a 5.7 km cable car system and adjoining themed village with tourist attractions, serves as a flagship for Hong Kong's tourism strategy. NP360 centres on the religious theme, 'Journey of Enlightenment', which integrates into the nearby Po Lin Buddhist Monastery and the 13-storey seated Buddha overlooking the country park on Lantau Island.



Maintaining the tranquillity and garden environment of the entire project's footprint and that of the extended park area was an overarching priority from the outset. This shaped, and at times, dictated the new approach required in designing and building this unusual scheme.

The Corporation stepped outside its usual rail project mode into territory that challenged its traditional project-management methodologies and partnering programmes. Achieving project targets demanded a better understanding of partners because of the way that they operated, what they do and how they approach an integrated project such as NP360. Implementing the desired shift in communication and follow-up actions proved difficult due to the challenges in workplace practices that required changes in traditional behaviour and attitudes internally and externally. The experience of this process has positively changed our approach to future partnering. We have learned that engaging with partners who work in different mindsets necessitates the need to raise issues openly and accept alternative viewpoints, and to reach consensus though dialogue at the earliest possible opportunity with the objective being to resolve issues.

Another ground-breaking process implemented in the project was the establishment of the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB), which was initiated specifically to monitor and oversee the environmental stewardship of the whole project. Through consensus building, the SAB brought about positive changes in the design, logistics and construction processes and introduced new thinking in eco-efficient project management and transparency. Most importantly, it was able to strike a balance between environmental issues and the consequences of additional costs and delays. The all-round success of this body has created a new model for stakeholder engagement in our future projects, including, currently, the West Island Line. It also establishes a broader industry model for managing both the environment and stakeholders in green field building site development.

By concluding the project with an effective 360-degree review among project participants, we have been able to articulate and share the impact on our corporate value chain. We have effectively changed the dynamics of stakeholder engagement processes through the experience of seeing their value in the planning, design and building stages of this project. Furthermore, in managing risk, we now actively look for problems and create a more sophisticated risk scenario that better manages the process and the risk inputs.