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hardly enough room to lie down, must less live. Finally, there are the resettle- ment estates which the administration likes to parade to show off it colonial beneficence. As one researcher described it:
hat does resettlement offer? Ninety-eight per cent of resettlement tenants live in standard units of 120 square feet i.e., 24 square feet per adult (children counting as half adults). Walls, ceilings, and floors are bare concrete . . . and the one door leads out on to the public balcony which serves as a general thoroughfare for the whole floor. Inside each unit, there is one concrete bench, where kerosene stoves for cooking are placed. As each room houses at least five people... cubicles and bed-spaces are partitioned off - vertically and horizontally - obstructing the small flow of air between window and door”. In addition, many people are engaged in work in home industries in these flats. As another observer has remarked, what has happened is that "the government is building instant slums, and then proceeds to hawk what it has done to the people in Hong Kong and the world as a public housing programme.' In April 1972
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Housing in Hong Kong – According to the 1971 Census1
Table 27, p.101-104, of the Census shows that among the "economically active population",
,
623,531 lived in a "room or cubicle"
53,896 lived in a “temporary structure"
27,260 lived in a "verandah, cockloft, basement, storeroom, corridor,
while
13,775 had only bed space
9,156 lived in a “roof shack"
etc".
1,246 lived in a "derelict boat"
Table 62, p.242 shows the average number of persons inhabiting each room or cubicle in Hong Kong dwellings:
In 92,168 dwellings, less than 1 person per room or cubicle In 210,332 dwellings, 1 to less than 2 persons per room or cubicle In 140,364 dwellings, 2 to less than 3 persons per room or cubicle In 77,662 dwellings, 3 to less than 4 persons per room or cubicle In 44,180 dwellings, 5 to less than 6 persons per room or cubicle In 22,885 dwellings, 6 to less than 7 persons per room or cubicle In 17,128 dwellings, 7 to less than 8 persons per room or cubicle In 11,157 dwellings, 8 to less than 9 persons per room or cubicle In 6,013 dwellings, 9 to less than 10 persons per room or cubicle In 5,350 dwellings, 10 or more persons per room or cubicle
1. Hong Kong Census 1971: Population and Housing, Main Report,