NOTES AND QUERIES
Two Garden Cities; Kowloon Tong and Kadoorie Avenue
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In 1920 a plan was proposed for the redevelopment of a large area east of the Kowloon-Canton Railway between Boundary Street and the Kowloon foothills with Waterloo Road to form its eastern boundary. The Kowloon Tong and New Territories Development Company was registered in 1922 to put into execution a plan for a 'garden city'. The promoters of the Company had a large vision. They proposed a planned community with houses and bungalows surrounded by gardens. There were to be no commercial establishments. Subscribers to the scheme could choose from a variety of plans drawn up by the Company's architect, Mr. E. D. Shank. The houses were to provide pleasant housing for middle-class families. They could be paid for in instalments. Some 250 houses were to be built on a mass scale. Costs were to be kept low as materials were bought in bulk. The Company established its own brick, tile, and cement block factory and a sawing mill on an adjacent site.
The Company, under the management of C. Montague Ede, entered into an agreement with Government in 1922. Government, for its part, undertook to prepare the sites, levelling them to an agreed height and provide sewers, water, streets, etc. In return, the Company was to pay a premium on the land at stipulated periods as the project was executed.
To many, the project seemed a bargain, and a boon in the light of the housing shortage which prevailed at the time the Company was formed. There was little difficulty in attracting sufficient subscribers to the scheme. All went well until the middle of 1925, when at least one-fourth of the area had been handed over by Government to the developers according to the agreed time schedule. Soon, however, the preparation of sites lagged more and more. Government claimed it was due to typhoons, strikes, and unexpected difficulties in site formation. The delay in handing over sites put the Company in an increasingly difficult financial position. It was finally forced into bankruptcy, and Government re-entered those portions of the tract not yet held by individual purchasers under Crown Leases. The whole affair became most complicated and put Government in a difficult position. The project was finally completed in 1930, some five years behind schedule.
From the standpoint of the original subscribers, the scheme was a success. They acquired pleasant properties at a reasonable price.