XN000022-1974-05-28 — Page 5

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TAKING THE RESULTS OF STUDIES UNDERTAKEN LAST YEAR BY THE GOVERNMENT'S TOWN PLANNING OFFICE, MR. ROBSON SAID THAT, IGNORING THE PROBLEM OF WATER, A CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATE OF THE OVERALL COST TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR GENERAL URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN NEW TOWN AREAS BY 1991 WOULD BE SOME $4,800 MILLION EXTRA FOR THE HIGHER POPULATION FIGURE, ASSUMING A PER CAPITA COST OF ABOUT $6,000.

+EVEN IF WE ASSUME THE MEDIUM POPULATION PROJECTION, THE ADDITIONAL EXPENDITURE INVOLVED IS STILL SOME $2,400 MILLION, + HE SAID.

HE ADMITTED THAT THESE FIGURES WERE FAIRLY ROUGH AND COULD NOT BE INTERPRETED TOO LITERALLY, BUT THEY WERE SUFFICIENT TO INDICATE THAT +FROM AN OVERALL PLANNING POINT OF VIEW THE COMMUNITY HAS A VITAL INTEREST IN EFFORTS TO CURB POPULATION GROWTH.+

+IF THIS CAN BE ACHIEVED, THEN IT IS REASONABLE TO EXPECT THAT FUTURE GENERATIONS CAN BE GIVEN GREATER VALUE FOR MONEY. WE CAN GO A LONG WAY TOWARDS FULFILLING THE RISING EXPECTATIONS LIKELY TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH A BETTER EDUCATED AND MORE AFFLUENT SOCIETY+, HE COMMENTED.

MR. ROBSON WAS OF THE OPINION THAT HONG KONG HAD PASSED FROM A STAGE OF EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS THAT FOUND EXPRESSION IN THE EARLY RESETTLEMENT ESTATES, WHICH WE HAD WITNESSED IN THE LAST TWO DECADES.

+WE CAN NOW, UNDER MORE STABLE CONDITIONS, CONCENTRATE ON BROADENING THE HORIZON OF OUR OBJECTIVES WITH REGARD TO SUCH MATTERS AS THE WIDER AVAILABILITY OF SEONDARY EDUCATION, THE IMPROVEMENT OF SPACE ALLOCATIONS IN PUBLIC HOUSING ESTATES, THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUITABLE RECREATIONAL OUTLETS, THE PROVISION OF BETTER MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT OF CONGESTED SLUM AREAS.

+IT IS TO BE HOPED THAT THIS INITIATIVE WILL GATHER IMPETUS IN THE COMING YEARS AND NOT BE FRUSTRATED BY FURTHER POPULATION EXPLOSIONS,+ HE SAID.

THE GOVERNMENT IS PROPOSING TO DEVELOP, BY 1983, THREE NEW TOWNS AT TSUEN WAN, SHA TIN AND TUEN MUN, TOGETHER WITH THE EX- PANSION OF THE EXISTING TOWNS OF YUEN LONG, TAI PO AND FAN LING AND SHEK WUHUI.

MR. ROBSON EXPLAINED THAT ALTOGETHER, THESE AREAS HAVE BEEN DESIGNED TO ACCOMMODATE ABOUT 2.1 MILLION PEOPLE, COMPARED TO A 1973 TOTAL OF 0.5 MILLION.

+UNLESS CAREFUL ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO THE MECHANICS OF DECENTRALISATION, THE CONTROL OF POPULATION GROWTH IN A REGIONAL CONTEXT IS LIKELY TO REMAIN AN INCOMPLETE STATEMENT OF POLICY+ HE STRESSED.

HE ENVISAGED THAT OVER THE NEXT TEN YEARS THERE WOULD CONTINUE TO BE A HEAVY DEPENDENCE ON PUBLIC HOUSING.

+PRESENT