LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
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parts of the New Territories are produced for special uses and as a base for the popular guide-book Hong Kong Guide - Streets and Places. Demand for leisure maps, in the form of the Countryside Series (six sheets) and the Tourist Guide, has been strong and the design and contents are continually under review to make subsequent editions more attractive and informative to users. Two newly-designed sheets, covering the central and north-west New Territories, were published in 1990 and another new sheet for Lantau Island is under preparation.
Maps are obtainable from conveniently located outlets throughout the territory. A new map sales office opened in central Kowloon in 1990 and should help increase annual map sales from the current level of 380 000 copies per annum.
The Survey and Mapping Office provides extensive cartographic and reprographic services for other government departments. These include full-colour mapping for the geological series, base maps for weather forecasting, aeronautical charts, electoral bound- ary maps, pollution control plans and photo-reproduction and plan copying of all types by the Reprographic Unit. The unit also provides essential back-up for in-house map production and other cartographic activities.
Following the installation of a computerised system at the Land Information Centre in Murray Building, conversion of large-scale mapping, land parcel boundaries and land use zoning data began early in 1990. The system was in operation for the first urban district in late 1990 and the whole project is expected to be completed by mid-1993.
The new system will speed up the updating, processing and retrieval of land data and automate the production of cadastral plans and maps at various scales. In view of its land information and data analysis capability, the land information system will be a powerful tool to assist decision-making in land administration and planning. When the system is fully established, it will provide basic land information and a unique geographic reference system to both the public and private sectors in Hong Kong. As more user organisations introduce their own compatible systems, an integrated network will develop.
The Photogrammetric Survey Section continues to provide aerial photographs and photogrammetric mapping as well as data and information for engineering design work, volumetric calculations for quarry and controlled tipping operations, environmental studies and town planning work. The Air Survey Unit is also on call for quick response photography in emergency operations such as storms, flooding and landslips.
A consultancy study of the surveying and mapping industry in Hong Kong was com- missioned by the Buildings and Lands Department in October 1990 and will be completed early in 1991. The findings of the study are expected to have a major impact on the future development of land and hydrographic survey and mapping and charting services in Hong Kong and on the land and engineering survey professions in both the public and the private sectors.
Fill Management
In excess of 240 million cubic metres of marine sand will be required for reclamations over the next five years, with another 120 million cubic metres over the following ten years. The largest annual demand is likely to occur during the three years from 1992 to 1994, when the new airport and related developments are under construction. Land formation using dredged sand can be achieved quickly and this is important for the territory's ambitious programme of reclamations. For example, in excess of one million cubic metres of sand
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