PRODUCTION
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The principal laws relating to land are the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123), the Town Planning Ordinance (Cap. 131), and the New Territories Ordinance (Cap. 97). In addition there are important General and Special Conditions of Sale relating to all land in Hong Kong and Kowloon and (in the New Territories) to all New Grant Lots. These Conditions vary according to the nature and position of the lots concerned, and are laid down, in their respective areas, by the Director of Public Works or the District Commissioner, New Territories.
LAND UTILIZATION
A survey made by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in 1954 showed that 13% (about 30,000 acres) of the total land area of the Colony was being used for agriculture and animal industries. The nature of the terrain precludes any extensive development of agricul- ture in new areas, but there is a certain amount of land formerly cultivated which, due to circumstances described in the New Territories section of the chapter on Occupations, Wages and Labour Organization, has been allowed to become waste. If these lands, and other small marginal tracts, can be re-opened for cultivation, it is estimated that the amount of agricultural land could be enlarged by 10,000 acres from 13% to 16% of the Colony's total area. The most practical form which planned land utilization can take in the very much larger parts of the rural zone which, due to steep hills, poor soil and absence of water, are unsuitable for agriculture, is afforestation. It is estimated that over 70,000 acres can, with time and persistence, be planted with
trees.
Against this must be the set the demands of a pre- dominantly urban colony with a rapidly rising population and a basis of economy that is becoming increasingly industrial. Urban industry is now Hong Kong's foremost employer and source of livelihood, and industries need land. Wherever possible, factories and urban extensions in country zones are concentrated on land reclaimed from the sea-as at Kun Tong and Tsun Wan,--but towns such as Yuen Long, Taipo and Shatin are all expanding, and it is unavoidable that in the process fields in the close vicinity