shows the growth in the authorized population of estates and cottage areas since 1954.
48. What kind of domestic accommodation is available in these buildings? Each wing of an 'H' block is divided structurally into a number of 10 foot bays, each with a depth of about 25 feet. These bays were then originally sub-divided by partitions on the centre line into rooms of about 120 square feet (9 ft. 6 ins. × 12 ft. 6 ins.) which is the standard size for rooms in Mark I and II blocks. Tenants are responsible for decorating the rooms themselves.
49. Because of the very large number of squatters to be resettled, Government reluctantly decided in 1954 that each of these 120 square feet rooms would have to accommodate 5 adults (two children under 10 counting as 1 adult), i.e. at a density of 24 square feet per adult. Fortunately the Hong Kong climate allows people to be out of doors for most of the day so that it is only at night that each room is filled to capacity. Ventila- tion is provided by a door and a large window opening on to the access balcony and by openings in the partitions at the rear of each room.
50. In time, variations in the position of the partitions in some of the bays allowed for additional room sizes. For instance, a full bay could consist of one room of 154 square feet and a smaller one of 86 square feet. These variations were required to accommodate families of different size. In addition, the basic room of 120 square feet was sometimes parti- tioned to make two small rooms for couples without children and for small groups of individual persons. There are thus many permutations of size, depending on the design of the block. The smallest room is 60 and the largest 360 square feet, the latter with its own kitchen, lavatory, shower and private balcony. The original design has now been abandoned and the Public Works Department has produced a new one which is closely akin to the multi-storey buildings of the Government Low Cost Housing Programme which are managed by the Housing Authority. This new resettlement block, known as Mark III when it has eight storeys and Mark IV when it has sixteen storeys, has begun to replace the older types of resettlement building, and up to 31st March, 1964 ten Mark III blocks had been constructed. The first of these, at Kwai Chung in the New Territories, were occupied before the end of the year, and others were at an advanced stage of construction in the new Kowloon estates of Yau Tong, Sau Mau Ping and Tsz Wan Shan, and at Tin Wan near Aberdeen on Hong Kong island. The new blocks differ fundamentally from the older design in that access to the rooms is from a central corridor on each floor. For the first time each room has its private balcony. Other
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