XN000022-1984-03-07 — Page 11

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 1984

+ HAVE NO DOUBT AT ALL THAT THOSE PRACTISING HERE IN HONG KONG VALUE AND WILL WELCOME CRITICAL COMMENT AND NEW IDEAS EMANATING FROM EXPERIENCE ELSEWHERE.

+AT THE SAME TIME I AM SURE THAT WE HAVE VERY MUCH TO OFFER FROM OUR PARTICULAR PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE HERE WHICH CAN CONTRIBUTE TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROBLEMS.+

MR CHAN SAID HE SPOKE WITH THE KNOWLEDGE AND INTEREST OF ONE DEEPLY INVOLVED IN BOTH THE MAJOR ISSUES AND PRACTICAL PROBLEMS FACED BY THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT LANDS AND WORKS BRANCH, WHICH WAS CENTRALLY CONCERNED WITH THE FUTURE OF THE BUILT AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.

HE SAID URBAN EXPLOSION IN HONG KONG HAD BEEN BASED PARTICULARLY UPON :

MASSIVE POPULATION GROWTH IN THE PAST TWO DECADES, LARGELY THE RESULT OF IMMIGRATION; AND

TRADE AND RAPID ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, FOUNDED UPON THOSE WHO LIVED AND WORKED HERE, OUR GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION, OUR HISTORY AND OUR POLITICAL/ECONOMIC PHILOSOPHY.

THE INITIALLY - AND IMMENSE - PROBLEM WAS TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT HOUSING FOR THOSE WANTING TO LIVE HERE, TOGETHER WITH THE SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE: ROADS, PUBLIC TRANSPORT, SCHOOLS, BASIC RECREATION AND OTHER FACILITIES.

THE GOVERNMENT'S CONCERN WITH THE ENVIRONMENT BEING CREATED THROUGH THIS PROCESS WAS EXPRESSED AT A RELATIVELY EARLY STAGE AND, IN THE NEW TOWNS, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS WERE SOON TO BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE PLANNING PROCESS INVOLVED, HE SAID.

IN THE URBAN AREAS, CONCERN WITH THE ENVIRONMENT BEING EVOLVED AROSE AT A LATER STAGE= MUCH REMAINED TO BE IMPROVED AND MUCH WOULD NEED ATTENTION.

HE SAID THAT CERTAIN LONGER TERM EFFECTS OF THE SPEED AND SCALE OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT UPON THE ENVIRONMENT WERE ONLY NOW BEING FULLY RECOGNISED, AND HE MENTIONED AS EXAMPLES THE RAPID DECLINE OF DOMESTIC AGRICULTURE, THE INTENSIVE USE OF THE MORE ACCESSIBLE COUNTRY PARKS AND THE LACK OF VARIETY AND STIMULUS IN MUCH OF THE STREETSCAPE'.

THESE WERE ALL MATTERS TO WHICH THE GOVERNMENT WAS GIVING CAREFUL ATTENTION, HE SAID.

THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS WAS ESTABLISHED AT CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND IN 1948 AND ITS MEMBERSHIP NOW INCLUDES OVER 35 NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.

DELEGATES FROM EIGHT COUNTRIES ARE ATTENDING THE MEETING, WHICH WILL LAST UNTIL SATURDAY.