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THE SHEUNG LI UK PROJECT
Perspective drawing of the buildings showing grouping arrangement.
THE problem of supplying low.
of families who can only afford a small rental, is one which has been uppermost in the minds of Govern- ment officials and private individuals alike. One organisation, which has something concrete to show for its deliberations, is the Hong Kong Housing Society, whose flats at Sheung Li Uk, on the edge of the densely populated semi-industrial area of Shamshuipo, were opened last September by His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government the Hon. R. B. Black, C.B.E. These flats constitute the first serious attempt to supply con- veniently planned space and ameni- ties for workers in a district, near their place of employment, at low rentals; the only criticism that may be made against them being that the four person units show some indication of the economy to which they have been subjected in an effort to keep down costs; this, however, was unavoidable.
Although this project was not the first of its nature in Hong Kong, it was conceived for the purpose of attempting to provide a radically dif ferent conception of organized and planned building work for a lower income group than any formerly provided for.
The architect tackled the problem from an entirely new angle, incor- porating ideas which had not hitherto been attempted in multi-floored multi-floored building construction
On the suc- cess of this planning the future of really low-rental quarters in the Colony depended.
The Hong Kong Housing Society is a voluntary organisation, formed in 1948 and incorporated by special ordinance in 1951. It is a non-profit naking, but self-supporting, enter- prise. The aim of the original the original committee was to provide accom- modation for the poorest class of inhabitants at the lowest possible rate. It was realised that for this it would be necessary either to have a subsidy or to get land and money
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for building on exceptional terms. Various plans were discussed with Government, and several schemes were submitted to the Colonial De- velopment and Welfare Committee.
In 1950, from the sum which Government set aside from its Development Fund for housing, it agreed to allocate $2,000,000 to the Housing Society for a pilot scheme in low-cost housing. A site was finally agreed upon at Sheung Li Uk and a grant for site formation was received from the Colonial Development and Welfare Fund. This grant was intended to pay what should be considered as ex- traordinary expenses in connection with the scheme, such as the cost of site development, access roads, main water supply and main drainage. The rest would be on a basis which could be included in an Improve- ment Trust was then envisaged.
The site is approximately 21 acres in area and it was leased to the Society at a crown rent of $1,200 per acre. The premium for