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LAND AND HOUSING
almost completed, covering an area of 913 acres and housing just over half a million people. While land formation and the provision of roads, water and drainage has been a government responsibility, building development has been shared with private enterprise; government and aided housing accommodating about 379,000 people and private enterprise contributing housing for about 150,000 people. Local industry in Kwun Tong employs some 95,000 workers.
The second new town, at Tsuen Wan north-west of Kowloon, is now more than one-third complete. In March 1972 its population stood at 308,000 although eventually it will accommodate 880,000 people. So far 446 acres of land have been formed at a cost of $84 million with formation work still proceeding. The third new town, at Castle Peak on the western side of the New Territories, has been designed for 476,000 people. The first stage of formation, comprising 230 acres was completed in 1972 and the disposal of land and the construction of buildings is following. Work has now commenced on a fourth new town, in the Sha Tin valley, where the first stage will be the formation of 100 acres to house 30,000 people. The eventual population is expected to be about 490,000. In developing these new towns, care is taken to balance population with the provision of employment and community facilities, so creating a compact self-contained township where travel is unnecessary.
Private Building
Confidence in the real estate market continued to be firm. This was reflected by the large number of building plans submitted during the year to the Building Authority for approval, and the successful flotation of a number of public companies dealing in property and land. Although the demand for factory accommodation eased, the high level of building activity continued unabated and the total cost of new building completed in 1972, as reported by authorised architects to the Building Authority, rose to $1,252,038,379, an increase of 42.2 per cent over 1971. This is the highest figure recorded since the building boom of the mid 1960s which reached its peak in 1966 with a record value of $1,058 million, but allowance must be made for higher building costs since then. With no signs that these boom conditions in real estate and the building industry are likely to subside in 1973 there were, predictably, associated shortages of labour during the year which led to increased costs.
At the end of 1972, domestic accommodation in the urban areas, owned by private landlords, comprised 205,000 tenement floors, 76,700 small flats, 27,700 large flats and 1,050 houses.
During the unprecedented June rainstorms which lasted several days, a large number of landslides and earth slips occurred causing 148 deaths and the destruction of property worth millions of dollars. The Governor appointed a Commission of Inquiry at the end of June to investigate the circumstances in which the disasters occurred and make recommendations on how such disasters may be avoided. The Commission was asked to pay particular regard to the two catastrophic landslides which occurred at Sau Mau Ping and at the western Mid-levels of Hong Kong Island. The landslip at Sau Mau Ping occurred on an embankment behind a licensed area and completely obliterated the huts in the area. A total of 71 people were killed and