t.
A start has been made on landscaping and planting in Open areas and small rest gardens have been opened in some estates. To standardise the letting process, new tenants of older public housing estates are now required to sign a tenancy agreement.
One of the most ambitious projects now underway is a rehousing operation that will bring a radical improve- ment in the life of 600,000 tenants on Hong Kong's oldest public housing estates. Under the programme, which will take about 15 years to complete, all estates with Mark I and II blocks will be redeveloped to provide self- contained living units and improved amenities.
In the initial phase of the scheme at Lower Shek Kip Mei estate in northwest Kowloon, more than 16,000 domestic tenants and about 100 shop and workshop tenants were moved to new homes at nearby Upper Pak Tin estate in 1973. Conversion of eight vacated blocks has already begun.
Factory Estates
To enable operators of small squatter factories, work- shops and industrial undertakings to continue earning a living when their structures are demolished in clearance operations, the practice has been over the past 16 years to build flatted factory blocks to accommodate them. There are 24 such blocks, five or seven-storeys, providing a total of 8,600 standard-sized units of 256 square feet each. More than 100 different types of manufacture are undertaken in these factory blocks, contributing signifi- cantly to the economy of Hong Kong. As the demand for such units has begun to exceed the supply, the practice is now to offer ex-gratia cash compensation to eligible opera- tors on clearance, where factory units are not available. Squatter Control and Clearance
All squatting on Crown land is by definition unlawful, but illegal structures are 'tolerated' if they were covered by a general survey of squatters carried out in 1964. When the land on which such tolerated structures stand is needed for development, they are cleared and the occupants rehoused in estates. Other illegal structures are cleared in the same way as the 'tolerated' ones, and occupants who are genuinely homeless may apply for a site in a licensed area where they can build a hut on payment of a small licence fee.
Industrial undertakings operated in tolerated struc- tures but requiring large open storage space are un- suitable for flatted factories. These may be offered sites in a licensed area provided the trade falls within certain approved categories.
The squatter population continues to drop gradually; at the end of 1973 it was estimated to be 275,000 com- pared with 463,000 in 1965. In the metropolitan area (i.e. urban areas plus Tsuen Wan) the Housing Depart- ment is responsible for squatter control. The control of squatters in the New Territories is the responsibility of the New Territories Administration.
The more accessible parts of the New Territories are regularly patrolled and are divided into prohibited and non-prohibited areas. In prohibited areas, such as the margins of roads, development areas, and land exposed to flooding, no new domestic huts are allowed. In non- prohibited areas, temporary structures may be built with the approval of the District Office of the NTA.
New Towns
With Hong Kong's grave shortage of land it is inevitable
that any new estates must be in the New Territories. But to be acceptable to their inhabitants the new towns must have good communications with the old urban areas, good social facilities, and provide local employ- ment opportunities.
With this in mind the new towns will have all the essentials of modern life: schools, clinics, parks, play- grounds, markets, police, fire and ambulance stations, and community centres. There will also be sites for private industrial and commercial development. The aim is to provide a balanced development of public and private housing and employment and community facilities in self- contained townshops. In this way the need for commuter traffic to the old urban areas can be kept to a minimum, and the elements necessary to develop a self-supporting social community will have been provided.
Plans for the engineering works and building of these vast complexes have been incorporated into the 10-year housing programme announced by the government in 1972. To meet the 10-year public housing target in this programme the development of the new towns is being accelerated and there has been considerable reorganisa- tion within the government departments concerned.
At present four new towns are in various stages of development. Because of the nature of the land, they are based on the concept of cutting platforms into hill slopes to form terraced sites, using the excavated material to fill nearby low-lying land and shallow seabed to form further sites.
At Kwun Tong, to the east of the Kowloon peninsula, 618 acres have been formed in this way since 1955. The town is now almost completed, covering an area of 913 acres and housing more than half a million people. While land formation and the provision of roads, water and drainage has been a government responsibility, building development has been shared with private enterprise. Government and aided housing accom- modates about 379,000 people and private enterprise contributes housing for about 150,000. Local industry in Kwun Tong employs almost 100,000 workers.
Three large new towns under development in the New Territories are at Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun (previously known as Castle Peak). At Tsuen Wan new town, northwest of Kowloon, a great deal of residential and industrial development has been and is taking place on land already formed, with two more major areas of development now being planned. The town already has a population of more than 400,000. One area to the north of the existing development will provide housing for 114,000 together with 47 acres for industrial develop- ment and a site for a town centre incorporating adminis- trative, commercial and cultural facilities. The second area to be developed is Tsing Yi Island which is now connected to the mainland by a bridge and highway. Tsing Yi is being planned for a population of 158,000 and, although an intergral part of Tsuen Wan new town, it will have all the facilities required to make it a self- contained community. It will also provide a number of sites suitable for heavy industry requiring sea access.
The new town of Tuen Mun on the southwest coast of the New Territories already has a population of 34,000. Some 200 acres have been formed and are now being developed for industrial and residential use. In the next 10 years Tuen Mun new town will cover about 2,070 acres with a population of 464,000.
The initial stage of development of Sha Tin new town
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