CHAPTER II
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
8. The development of representative government in Hong Kong has been a gradual process. At each stage the Government has consulted carefully within the community in order to ensure the widest possible public support for its policies.
9. Prior to 1970, a formal system of consultation existed in the New Territories through Village Representatives, Rural Committees and the Heung Yee Kuk. In the urban areas, the Urban Council, made up of elected and appointed members in addition to government officials, was consulted on the provision of essential municipal services. The Government also drew on the advice of individual members of the community through a wide range of advisory boards and committees and through close contacts with kaifongs and other similar associations.
10.
The key stages in the development of the present structure of repre- sentative government in recent years are summarized in paragraphs 11-27 below.
Developments in the 1970s
11. In the early 1970s, the Government began to place increasing emphasis on encouraging local residents to become directly involved in the work of adminis- tration at the neighbourhood and district levels. The Keep Hong Kong Clean and the Fight Crime Campaigns were launched to tackle these pressing social problems. Efforts were also made to promote better management and security in multi-storey buildings through the establishment of Mutual Aid Committees and Owners Corporations. City District Committees, composed of leading members of the community and representatives of appropriate government departments, were set up in the urban districts of Hong Kong and Kowloon to assist in co-ordinating these efforts. They were assisted by local Area Com- mittees composed of members of the community from all walks of life.
12. These initiatives led to a strengthening of the channels of communication between the Government and local residents. In due course the City District Committees were encouraged to assume a wider role in stimulating a sense of local identity and helping to ensure that the efforts of government departments were co-ordinated as effectively as possible to meet the needs and aspirations of the local community.
13. In the New Territories, the movement of large numbers of people from the older urban areas, to live in the developing new towns, gave impetus to con- sideration of how channels of consultation could be extended to meet the needs of new residents, as well as the indigenous inhabitants. In 1977, the first District
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