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LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
Surveys in land and floor uses covering the whole territory were conducted or updated to provide the basic input in the preparation of both statutory and departmental plans. Special planning studies such as the forecast of land supply, forecast of population distribution in the private housing sector, future demand and supply of hotels, and floor space requirements of banks in industrial buildings were also carried out during the year to provide information for the formulation of land development and planning policies.
During the year, work continued on the formulation of planning statements for the sub-regions. These set out the government's intentions for the future use and development of land in the five sub-regions. In 1986, the Development Progress Committee approved the statements for the North Eastern New Territories, the South Eastern New Territories and the South Western New Territories. Statements for the North Western New Territories and for the Metropolitan area will be programmed during the course of the coming year. These statements provide a necessary link between the Territorial Development Strategy and district planning and are already proving useful in directing attention towards development issues within these sub-regions.
A Central Information and Technical Administration Unit of the Town Planning Office was established in 1980 to provide a common channel through which planning information is released to the public. During the year, a total of 1 820 enquiries from members of the public were handled by or through the arrangement of this unit, representing a 13 per cent increase compared with 1613 enquiries in 1985. Persons seeking planning advice and planning information included overseas visitors and officials, professionals, property owners, developers, journalists and students.
Development of the New Towns and Rural Townships
The launching of a major housing programme in 1982 provided the impetus for the new town development programmes. The objective of this housing programme was to provide 1.8 million individual units of accommodation over a 10-year period, the majority of which were to be located in new towns in the New Territories. This target was substantially achieved and the new town programmes have since been extended into the 1990s. The first generation of new towns, Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun is already housing 1.4 million people and is expected to reach substantial completion by the end of this decade. Development in the second generation new towns in the northern New Territories, namely Tai Po, Fanling and Yuen Long, is proceeding at a fast pace and the major works will be completed by the early 1990s. These new towns have a current population of some 340 000. Works on the Junk Bay New town on the Sai Kung peninsula are proceeding apace and along with the works at Tin Shui Wai in the northwestern New Territories, the advance works for which are already in hand, should reach final development by the late 1990s. On completion of the present development programmes, the population of the New Territories will have risen to nearly 3.5 million people compared with the present 1.8 million and less than half a million in 1970.
To ensure proper co-ordination of the major task of planning and implementing development works in the whole territory, the Territory Development Department is constituted on a multi-disciplinary basis and includes professional officers with expertise in civil engineering, town planning, architecture and landscaping. The department works closely with the Housing Department in implementing the public housing programme and the City and New Territories Administration, the Urban Services Department and Regional Services Department in fostering the growth of new balanced communities.