2
REVIEW
Wan, including Chai Wan. The same pattern can be seen on the peninsula. The population of Kowloon proper has dropped from 725,177 to 716,272 while that of New Kowloon has grown from 852,849 to 1,478,581. The mechanisation of fishing vessels and the removal, both voluntary and compulsory, of fishing families and others from the sea to solid homes on land has also brought the number of 'boat people' down from 136,802 to 79,894.
And the people are more affluent. The answers to the census questions on financial status showed that in 1971, 57.5 per cent of households in Hong Kong had a monthly income of $600 or more; 7.7 per cent earned more than $2,000 a month, and 16.6 per cent less than $400. The 1961 census posed no questions on income but a comparison can be made with the sample survey of household incomes in 1966. At the top of the scale the figures have not changed greatly; in 1966 the percentage of households with a monthly income over $2,000 was, at 6.7 per cent, one per cent less than the number in 1971. At the other levels, however, the differences are striking: 45 per cent then earned less than $400 per month and only 27 per cent had an income of more than $600 a month. The 1966 survey was based on a small sample; the questions were voluntary, replies were received from only about two-thirds of the households selected, and there has also been a rise of some 25 per cent in the cost of living since 1966. Nevertheless, the scale of the change that has been recorded cannot be more than partially explained by these factors. There has been a marked rise in real incomes and a movement towards a greater equality in the distribution of income. A more substantial middle class is emerging in what now looks like a stable and increasingly affluent society, comparable with the developed world in nearly every way.
There has been a striking change also in the physical appearance of the Colony. In 1961 there were few of the tall buildings that now dominate the waterfront, and fewer still of the multi-storey blocks of flats that have since grown up on the surrounding hillsides. There was no City Hall (or government-sponsored culture), and Statue Square was still used as a car park.
The volume of traffic has greatly increased on the streets and roads, and even the main rural communications are heavily used at all times. The hilly topography of Hong Kong and the heavily built-up nature of the urban areas have made road improvements difficult, but a complex system of one-way streets and a massive programme of new roadworks and flyovers are being driven through