HOUSING AND LAND
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the capital cost of the mains supply, although they had to provide their own service wires and internal fittings according to safety specifications laid down by the working party.
To provide a legal framework for supplying power to squatters, the Electricity Supply Ordinance and Regulations were amended and a new set of Electricity Supply (Special Areas) Regulations were enacted. The new legislation came into operation in July 1976. It allows the Secretary for Housing to designate special areas to be subject to the Electricity Supply (Special Areas) Regulations. Because of the success of the pilot scheme, it is planned to introduce similar schemes to other squatter areas.
Town Planning
One of the principal aims of town planning in Hong Kong is to improve the quality of the physical environment for the territory's 4.4 million people. To do this, it is necessary to ensure that sufficient land is available for public and private housing, for commerce and industry, and for recreation and other community uses. In the densely populated old urban areas where community facilities are under-provided, the prime objective is to improve the living environment by providing more open space, schools and other facilities.
There are two bodies mainly responsible for town planning. They are the Town Planning Board, chaired by the Director of Public Works and comprising eight official and eight unofficial members, and the Land Development Policy Committee, chaired by the Secretary for the Environment and comprising six official members. The Town Planning Office of the Public Works Department services these two bodies and their sub-committees. The office prepares plans for existing and future urban areas, including statutory outline zoning plans for the new towns, and planning guides for rural areas. It also provides planning advice for the New Territories Administration and advisory bodies.
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There are three main levels of planning in Hong Kong: the Hong Kong Outline Plan; the Town Planning Board statutory outline zoning plans; and departmental plans in the form of outline development plans, layout plans, planning guides and 10-year development programmes.
The Hong Kong Outline Plan sets out general planning concepts and policies for future population distribution and land development, and defines standards and locational factors for the provision of community facilities. The plan is based on the findings of six interdepartmental working committees and a data bank of land use, demographic and other related planning information. It provides a framework for the preparation of statutory outline zoning plans and departmental plans, and it attempts to co-ordinate and integrate outline planning with district planning. The data bank is continually updated and analysed within a system of primary, secondary and tertiary planning units over planning periods. Revision of the plan was almost completed during 1976.
Draft statutory outline zoning plans are prepared by the Town Planning Office for the Town Planning Board under the provisions of the Town Planning Ordinance.