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HOUSING AND LAND
available for development is used to the full advantage. Plans are now well in hand for a new town for 300 000 people at Junk Bay, on the eastern seaboard of the New Territories. It is hoped to have the first public housing estates completed there by 1986, with the remaining development extended through to the mid-90s. Another site to be developed in the near future is Ma On Shan, to the south of Tolo Harbour, which is scheduled to support a self-contained community of 200 000 on the outskirts of Sha Tin New Town. A further potential area for development is north Lantau, where public housing for 200 000 people could be built if the proposed airport and road link go ahead.
A major step to maximise land usage was taken during 1981 when the government agreed to raise the permitted population densities in public housing estates from 2 500 to 3 000 people per hectare wherever circumstances permit. To meet these revised standards, Housing Department architects designed a block which could take full advantage of the new plot ratio without sacrificing open space between buildings. By building high - to 35 storeys – and using a Y-shape, the new 'Trident' block is able to accommodate 60 per cent more flats than an existing slab block occupying a similar ground area. The design also affords better light and ventilation to the flats and gives tenants of the larger units the additional advantage of being able to partition either two or three bedrooms.
The Year of the Disabled saw the adoption of a special design code for the physically handicapped, which will be incorporated in all future estates. In addition, the Housing Department has an on-going programme of improvements to existing estates to provide easier access for the disabled wherever this is possible.
Efforts to speed up construction are also being made, through the active encouragement of mechanised building methods.
Meanwhile, the effects of the influx of immigration from China up to the end of 1980 are still being felt through the proliferation of squatter huts. Considerably increased-action by the Housing Department's squatter control force, resulting in a high level of prosecutions against racketeers, did not stop the spread and it was necessary to provide additional staff, initially, to regain control and, subsequently, to contain the position. Not surprisingly, the greatly increased congestion in squatter areas led to several large fires. The thousands who lost their homes, most of whom were new immigrants, did not qualify for permanent public housing and placed a great strain on scarce temporary housing resources. A major pro- gramme to build additional temporary housing was started during the year with a view to increasing the number of person spaces from the existing 100 000 to 150 000. In the mean- time, resite areas are being established in the New Territories as an expedient. At these sites, formed and serviced by the government, eligible families are permitted to build their own huts under supervision and the areas are managed and controlled by the Housing Authority. In view of the pressure on temporary housing resources, during the year the Housing Authority was again forced to re-examine the eligibility criteria for both permanent and temporary housing. As a result, permanent housing is now offered to squatter families in 1976-surveyed huts, providing the majority of family members have at least 10 years. residence in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong's public housing programme was launched in early 1954, following a disastrous fire on Christmas Day 1953, in the Shek Kip Mei squatter area which left more than 50 000 people homeless.
When the public housing programme started, the situation appeared desperate indeed. In the five years leading up to 1950, an immense influx of Chinese immigrants had boosted the population from 600 000 to more than two million. The excess of births over deaths was more than 1000 a week, and there was virtually nowhere to live. The housing stock of
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