HOUSING AND LAND
101
developed as balanced communities with public and private housing and with employ- ment and community facilities to minimise traffic within and between the towns.
Tsuen Wan new town to the northwest of Kowloon already has a population of more than half of the 900,000 for which it is planned. The Kwai Shing and Lai King housing estates, and the first stage of the Lai Yiu housing estate, which were com- pleted during 1976, together provided accommodation for about 100,000 people. Extensive formation work was also started in the northern area of the town to provide land for housing in both the public and private sectors. Clearance, involving rehousing some 5,000 people, was commenced in the latter part of the year to provide a site for a new housing estate for 33,000 people. Construction of village houses was also begun, to resite villages affected by other clearances. The future population in the northern part of the town will amount to 120,000. ! =
On Tsing Yi Island, which is part of Tsuen Wan new town and is connected to it by a road bridge, rapid changes are taking place. Some 23,000 people will have homes in the first public housing estate by 1977, and the island will eventually house about 180,000.
At Tuen Mun new town, on the west side of the New Territories, the bulk of the engineering work for Stage IA development at the northern end of Castle Peak Bay has been completed. It provides 93 hectares of land with a population capacity of 54,000. Private residential and industrial buildings are going up rapidly and con- struction of the first phase of the Tai Hing housing estate, with accommodation for 28,000 people, is due to be completed in 1977. Further land is being formed, including 70 hectares of reclamation in Castle Peak Bay, for Stage IB development. On com- pletion, Stage IB will provide 124 hectares of land and together with Stage IA it will accommodate 193,000 people in a balanced township. Tuen Mun new town is planned to cover 1 100 hectares, with a total population capacity of 486,000. Good progress was made during the year on the new road connecting Tuen Mun with Tsuen Wan.
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At Sha Tin new town, to the north of the Kowloon peninsula, planning and engineering work for Stage I development is progressing rapidly. This stage will provide 420 hectares of land and a population capacity of 238,800. The first public housing estate--the Lek Yuen estate, which was completed in 1976-provided homes for 23,000 people. Work also began during the year on the Wo Che housing estate Phase IA, to provide homes for a further 16,400 people. Two primary schools and other community facilities were completed and four hectares of land were developed, serviced and sold for light industrial use. When the new town is completed it will accommodate 520,000 people in an area of some 1 740 hectares. The second Lion Rock road tunnel, which connects Sha Tin with Kowloon, has been substantially completed and construction of the road work and ancillary buildings connected with the tunnel are now under way.
Concurrently with the development of the new towns, expansion of the market towns of Tai Po, Fanling, Shek Wu Hui and Yuen Long will take place to meet an eventual population in the region of 400,000 people. At Tai Po, reclamation of land began in 1976 for the Yuen Chau Tsai San Tsuen housing estate, which will accom- modate 30,000 people. The first stage is to be completed in 1979.