RECREATION
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Stadium and up to 10,000 go to nearby South China Athletic Stadium for big matches. Football in Hong Kong has all the partisan fervour, and not a few of the troubles, of football anywhere.
Many of those who shine in competitive sport are members of privately run clubs whose only assistance from public funds con- sists of a short-term lease of land on special terms. But, for the majority of people, the opportunity to take part in sports which require special facilities depends on government amenities.
The provision of public recreation facilities for different sections of the community is a comparatively new development in Hong Kong. As recently as 1952 virtually the only public facilities were the bathing beaches (inaccessible to many townsfolk), the Botanic Gardens, the Happy Valley playing fields on Hong Kong Island, and three children's playgrounds in Kowloon. The first hard- surface pitches for mini-football and basketball were not built until 1953, while Hong Kong Island did not get its first children's playground until 1957. The opening of Victoria Park in that year marked the birth of a new approach to the problem. The Urban Council, working through the Urban Services Department, is responsible for providing recreation facilities in the towns. In the New Territories, the responsibility rests with the Director of Urban Services, working closely with the District Commissioner.
The pace of development has increased greatly in recent years and the Parks, Recreation and Amenities Division of the Urban Services Department now manages a total of 1,230 acres of public open space. Facilities include 273 parks and gardens; 144 children's playgrounds and nine children's libraries; 32 grass games pitches for soccer, hockey and rugby; 51 hard-surface mini-football pitches; 187 courts for basketball, volleyball and badminton; 29 tennis courts; six running tracks; two Olympic-standard swimming pools; 36 bathing beaches with a total length of 8.4 miles; one bowling green; one squash court; five model boat pools; three bandstands; three roller-skating rinks; a putting green; and a fine aviary. There are more than 324 changing and lavatory facilities, cafes, refresh- ment kiosks, pavilions, shelters, car parks and barbecue pits.
This year saw the completion of Stage II of the Kowloon Tsai Park development. A generous donation from the United States