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LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
Sha Tin
Sha Tin valley contains some 1 700 hectares of serviced land which include 450 hectares of reclamation. The development of Ma On Shan Phase 1, as an extension of the new town, will add another 230 hectares, of which 110 hectares will be reclaimed land.
Since 1974, the population of Sha Tin has grown from 25 000 to well over 300 000. The ultimate population of 750 000 will be reached by the mid-1990s. About 55 per cent of the population will be housed in over 20 public housing estates (including Home Ownership and Private Sector Participation Schemes) with the remainder in private development schemes or in existing villages.
One of the features of Sha Tin is its recreational and social facilities along the Shing Mun River. Added to the Sha Tin Racecourse and the Jubilee Sports Centre will be an international rowing course, a stadium, swimming pool complex and squash and tennis courts. All these will be linked by a proposed river-side promenade and culminate in a 9.5 hectare town park which will be completed in 1986. The town park will in turn link with the town centre, where New Town Plaza, a major commercial complex, was completed in late 1984 and has a pedestrian connection to the Kowloon-Canton Railway's Sha Tin Station. Alongside this, construction of a cultural complex and other commercial office and hotel accommodation is underway, reflecting the fact that the new town is rapidly maturing.
Other important facilities include the Prince of Wales Hospital, providing over 1 400 beds, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Plans for other hospitals, a college of education, and a technical institute are being considered.
Tuen Mun
The new town already houses 265 000 people and it is estimated that by the mid-1990s the total population will exceed 500 000.
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High density development is concentrated on reclamation areas in Castle Peak Bay and land formed in the adjacent valley floor. The new town contains eight public housing estates accommodating more than 165 000 people in addition to over 40 000 people accommodated in housing built under the Home Ownership and Private Sector Participa- tion Schemes. Sites are being formed on hillsides to accommodate mainly medium and low density residential developments.
Areas of high landscape value, which give Tuen Mun its impressive natural setting, are being preserved as far as possible.
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About 30 hectares of industrial land within the core of Tuen Mun have been developed, accommodating a wide range of light manufacturing industries and godowns. New sites are being formed and serviced to meet the growing needs of various industrial operations. Development of land intensive marine oriented industries and cargo handling facilities is proposed at suitable locations along the waterfront.
To the west of the town, Castle Peak Power Station and a cement manufacturing plant are substantially complete.
Development work has started on a new district shopping centre, and a cultural complex in the town centre which will be a focus of the new town's social and economic activities, while the first phase of the new town park is complete.
The six-lane Tuen Mun Road, a high-speed hoverferry service to Hong Kong Island and the Mass Transit Railway extension from Kowloon to Tsuen Wan have brought the new town within much easier reach of the main urban areas. A Light Rail Transit System, due to start operation in the late 1980s, will provide rapid tram links within the town and between Tuen Mun and Yuen Long.