Although the legal minimum living space in Hong Kong is only 35 sq. ft. per adult, it is known that this standard is widely disregarded, and that in the worst slum districts the average falls to about 15 sq. ft. The extent of the housing shortage becomes apparent when it is realized that the average tenement floor cannot accommodate more than ten persons without exceeding the public health standard of overcrowding. But if the legal minimum of living space was rigidly enforced, the only result would be that about another 350,000 people would have to be re-housed. With the quarter of a million squatters which it is estimated still remain to be re-housed, the Colony thus has at least 600,000 people (more than the entire population of the City of Leeds) who require re- housing. A census will not be taken until 1961, but recent investigations indicate that the present population is about 2 millions, increasing at the rate of 3% per annum: this means that by 1965 the population will be approximately three millions. Where are they all going to live? It has been estimated that in order to provide even a modest sufficiency of living space it will be necessary to build between 200,000 and 300,000 units of domestic accommodation. The capital cost of such an enormous task would be equivalent to the Colony's total revenue for at least two years, and, irrespective of the availability of funds, it is impossible that the physical construction could be completed for at least fifteen years. It will readily be appreciated, therefore, that to supply suitable housing, to those requiring it, and at rents they can afford, is a formidable, if not an impossible task.
Considerable and well-deserved-publicity has been given to Gov- ernment's emergency measures to deal with the problems created by squatters, and the disastrous fires which used to sweep, with depressing frequency, through the areas they occupy. Despite the energy and vision with which this well-nigh overwhelming task has been tackled by the Resettlement Department (over 200,000 squatters have been re-housed so far), much more still remains to be done in this field, and it seems certain that for years to come these unsightly shanties, constructed of old tins, bits of wood, and cardboard, will remain a blot on the land- scape and a very serious social problem. Only recently has it been possible to turn some attention to the large number of people living in shacks on the streets.
Despite the building boom it is difficult to see how private enterprise can substantially relieve overcrowding amongst the very poor, who constitute the vast majority of the population, even if there is a con- siderable acceleration in the pace of land development. The steady
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