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29. From the foregoing paragraphs it can be seen that the present type of tenement is not conducive to the best type of family life; for health it depends on through ventilation, although its occupants for the most part keep windows closed; its cost, in relation to the normal earnings of its tenants, makes overcrowding inevit- able; by being virtually one room per floor it facilitates the spread of disease. It cannot be described as being suited to the needs and circumstances of the
masses.
In
30. Before proceeding to consider possible improvements it would be advisable first, to give some attention to the question whether flats or houses are best suited to the Chinese poorer classes. In their villages, houses are normally one or two storied. In Hong Kong the demand for dwellings and the shortage of good building land has led to the erection of flats. Approximately 43% of Hong Kong tenements
(See Appendix V). are three stories in height and 40% are four storied. Kowloon where development is of much later date than Victoria and where, owing to wider roads, increased maximum building heights are possible, the majority of houses are only three stories high. One would imagine that landlords would for the most part develope their land to the maximum intensity permissible. As they have not done so it can only be concluded that, not only is there no demand for many storied tenements, but that there is even objection to them.
31.
In view of high land values in Victoria, it seems fairly certain that, if any rehousing and replanning is to be done, some blocks of multistoried tenements will have to be erected. For family life there are many objections to flats. There are, however, according to the Census Report of 1931, some 150,000 people over 17 years of age who are either single or widowed. Although many are no doubt living with their families a large number will be living independantly. If multi- storied blocks must be erected they might be designed to suit the needs of this class, leaving the lower blocks for the use of families.
32. High land values make the provision of two storied or single storied houses impossible for the masses. Even with land at its cheapest, the necessary rents would be prohibitive for all who could not pay at least $7 or $8 per month.
**
Differ-
33. The question of the mixing or segregation of different social grades is a subject for controversy in Europe and particularly in England. Amongst the Chinese the distinction between classes is not so strictly regarded as in Europe. ences in circumstances there are, but they do not engender sharp social distinctions which prevent the mixing of classes. Poor and wealthy frequently live side by side in similar houses. In England it is now recognized that "while a grouping of congenial elements is a proper object of planning, the complete segregation of large blocks of different types of houses is undesirable on social grounds
* Although social snobbery is to be deplored, a complete lack of class consciousness can give rise to a situation, which can by no means be regarded with equanimity. In Hong Kong there are many people occupying flats in the congested areas, who could well afford to move to the outskirts, and pay rents for much better houses than they now occupy. Their presence in the congested areas reduces the amount of accommodation available for the poorer classes, forces up rents, and increases the obstacles in the way of enforcement of the law against overcrowding. If new housing is to be provided at the lowest possible rent it is essential that this class. should be discouraged from deriving advantage from it, at the expense of the poor for whom such housing may be provided.
34. To many people, the slum dwellers appear to be a shiftless crowd for whom the provision of better quarters would be a waste of money. It must be remembered however that the vast majority are the victims of economic circum- stances. They have been born and bred in the slums and have known no other environment. Experience in most countries has shown that the great majority of slum tenants react almost immediately to improved surroundings.
35. In Hong Kong it is true that there is a tendency to overcrowd, even when more commodious accommodation can be afforded. Possibly this is due to centuries of life under unsettled conditions during which time the herd instinct for self protection has become highly developed; possibly it is due to the influx of
*Ministry of Health Handbook "Town and Country Planning in England and Wales ".