78. At that time there were eleven of these cottage areas in existence, most of which were already fully developed, and work had started on the development of a twelfth area at Chuk Yuen, north of Kai Tak. In all they accommodated about 45,000 persons. A year later their population had risen to 58,000 and work had started on the development of two more cottage areas at Tai Woh Ping (in the hills above Shek Kip Mei) and at Tai Wo Hau, near Tsuen Wan in the New Territories.
79. The majority of the cottage areas consist of a series of terraces on steep hillsides on the outskirts of built-up areas both on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon.
A few occupy fairly level sites, while in others the hillsides are so steep that any other form of development would be impracticable. All are areas which at the time of their development were not required for any other purpose, being beyond the reach of the urban system of water mains and drainage.
80. Particulars of the population and the number of cottages in the various cottage areas are given at Tables A & B of Appendix I and it will be noted that the number of cottages increased during the year from 11,772 to 13,571 and that the majority of the new cottages were in Chai Wan on Hong Kong Island, in Ngau Tau Kok and Chuk Yuen in Kowloon, and in Tai Wo Hau (Tsuen Wan). As a result of this new building the population of the cottage areas increased by 12,169 from 58,224 to 70,393.
81. In Tai Wo Hau (Tsuen Wan) and Chuk Yuen the new cottages were all built by the settlers themselves and were either of wood or of stone with asbestos or tin roofs. In other areas, notably Ngau Tau Kok and Chai Wan, the National Catholic Welfare Committee did most valuable work by building a total of 284 granite cottages with funds provided by various charitable organizations. These cottages have reinforced concrete roofs and are of two sizes, the smaller having an internal area of 125 square feet and the larger of 150 square feet. In Chai Wan they were used mostly for the rehousing of settlers whose wooden huts had to be removed for fire lane clearances.
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