this job and a team of planners consisting of varied and experienced staff set up.
The institute's detailed comments on the Draft Plan were as follows:
(a)
Heights of buildings and plot ratios
The Central Area plan designating the heights of buildings and setback is questionable as there is no state- ment, or good reason put forward, as to why certain areas should be zoned for more than 20 storeys while others are restricted to 4 storeys
surely a vast discrepancy.
It was explained to the Institute that the Central Area was planned to have two "magnets" these are the two major areas of heights and volume concentration. What plot ratio the Plan is aiming for is not clearly indicated. though generally for the area a maximum height of four storeys is the number of storeys permitted. On the same block, variations in the number of storeys are shown, presumably because for some lots, higher ratios than what is now allowed have been approved or can be approved.
However, a plot ratio applies to a whole block, and because one developer gets the approval for a building with a plot ratio higher than the owner of another piece of land in the same block, the other will have to suffer, not only because he is unable to obtain approval for the building of the same plot ratio as the first developer but because it is possible he may get the building even smaller than that of the stated plot ratio because the first developer had been "lucky" and had used up part of the second de- veloper's allowable plot ratio for that particular block. (b) Two "Magnets"
It is hoped that the central city area in between the two "magnets" would be caught in the magnetic field and so would be induced to develop or redevelop, as the case may be.
This seems interesting enough but when one examines the density permissible, development in the Cen- tral Area lying between these two "magnets" where one would have expected high density of permissible develop- ment, it is not so. There is decisive restriction on develop- ment here in terms of height and floor space.
This theory of twin magnets viewed from the traffic point of view is disastrous because of the greater move- ments of traffic it encourages constantly to flow between these two poles through the Central Area. The Planning Department must state clearly whether its intention is to encourage or discourage vehicular traffic to the city centre. (c) Cut-Backs and Setbacks
The cut-backs and setbacks of the buildings, ostensi- bly to provide car parking on the ground, are unrealistic as this would render most lots so short with the remain- ing land that few would be inspired to develop. No alter- native has been spelt out, for instance, that if car parking of the required number is provided in the basement then the setbacks would be waived. Why should the developer be penalised every time, in having land taken away from him for this and for that purpose?
(d) Density
The Plan is wrong in aiming for a low density Kuala Lumpur. The areas which have already been built for high density flats are zoned and coloured in the Gazetted Plan as low density areas. Similarly, new commercial areas already built are still classified as residential areas, although the Central Commercial Area and the Industrial Area permit their use for residential purposes; there is no density control for these areas.
At what densities have these been planned for? From the proposal, it is estimated that more than half of the residential area in Kuala Lumpur has been proposed at a density of 20 persons or less to an acre
a very low density, even by Western standards.
(e) Road Patterns
The roads shown on the Plan do not indicate whether
they are existing or proposed roads. The road patterns and the exact width of the road reserves are not clearly shown on the Plan though setbacks for buildings showing permitted site coverage is provided.
Roads have also been indicated as "primary" distri- bution roads to be "not less than 10 feet" wide, district
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distributor roads to be "not less than 50 feet" wide. These indicate vagueness with regard to road standards and requirements when the Plan was prepared. This may be fraught with dangers in the future. It would be left to the whims and fancies of the authorities in its implemen- tation.
NEXT STAGE OF WATERFRONT ROAD
the
THE next stage of Hong Kong's Waterfront Road section through Causeway Bay will begin this month. This section, when completed in two years, will improve traffic flow between North Point and Central and will relieve congestion at the Roxy Roundabout and at the junction of Percival Street and Hennessy Road.
The work will involve the construction of a three- lane dual carriageway of about 1,300 ft. long on the northern boundary of the Causeway Bay Reclamation, the culverting of 1,700 ft. of the Causeway Bay Canal be- tween the Dairy Farm and Victoria Park and a flyover. About 560 ft. long the flyover will cater to traffic wishing to turn right across this section of the Waterfront Road into the Causeway Bay area. It will start on the northern side of the Waterfront Road, spanning this section diagonally and end on the southern side.
Included in this project is a trolley subway for use by Jardine, Matheson and Co. Ltd. It is an alternative arrangement provided by Government to replace their existing loading and unloading facilities affected by the reclamation. The subway will be about 400 ft. long, 71⁄2 ft. high and 12 ft. wide. It will link Jardine's East Point Godown to the new cargo handling area on the new waterfront.
The whole length of the Waterfront Road, when completed, will extend from Harcourt Road, along a widened Gloucester Road to connect up with King's Road and the existing road network at Hing Fat Street in North Point.
IN BRIEF...
MORE than 3,000 people attended a three-day photo- graphic exhibition entitled 'Your City and You', held last month at the City Hall, Hong Kong. The exhibition, which presented a study of the Hong Kong environment, was staged by the Hong Kong Society of Architects in collaboration with the Hong Kong Branch of the Town Planning Institute and the Department of Architecture, University of Hong Kong.
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A NATIONAL housing survey is to be conducted in con- junction with the population census in Kuala Lumpur in 1970. The Deputy Secretary to the Ministry of Local Government and Housing, Mr. N. Jagatheesan, said last month that the Government hoped to build 13,500 units of low cost housing by 1970 at a cost of M$66 million. There is at present estimated to be 30,000 unauthorised buildings on State and private land in Kuala Lumpur.
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MORE than $$57 million will be spent on Singapore's Jurong Power Station project this year. The new station is designed to have a maximum installed capacity of 480 megawatts at a total cost of S$180 million. The first stage of 120 megawatts will be commissioned early next year.
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HONG KONG Government has called for tenders for the demolition of 76 old dilapidated tenement buildings standing on land needed for a public open space and a multi-storey car park near Public Square Street in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, The open space and car park are part of an area of 61⁄2 acres which is reserved for a community centre on the statutory Yau Ma Tei outline development plan.
SINGAPORE'S Housing and Development Board has now sold 6,158 units of three-room and two-room flats. In one day last month the Board sold all 532 units it had put up for sale in its Havelock Road estate,
Far East Architect & Builder February, 1968
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