ENG-1963 — Page 223

LAND AND HOUSING

179

necessary services; and to control the use and to stimulate the development of land.

Planning activities are co-ordinated in the planning division of the Crown Lands and Survey Office and are concerned mainly with the preparation of outline development plans. Plans for the New Territories are prepared at the request of the District Com- missioner, who consults responsible local opinion in areas affected before individual plans are approved. Since 1953 plans have been prepared for 33 planning districts in the urban areas. In addition many large scale layout plans have been drawn up covering small portions of the urban areas and the New Territories. These plans are used as a guide in the sale of Crown land and the redevelop- ment of private land, but have no statutory effect except where approved in accordance with the Town Planning Ordinance.

The Town Planning Board consists of six official and three unofficial members and operates under the Town Planning Ordin- ance. The board has, to date, published outline development and layout plans for 14 districts, 12 have been approved by the Governor in Council, one refused and one is awaiting considera- tion. The board has been instructed to prepare plans in respect of Tsim Sha Tsui and Aberdeen, but these have not yet been published. Approved plans cover the following areas: North Point, Chai Wan, Yau Ma Tei, Hung Hom, Ma Tau Kok, Kwun Tong Tsai Wan, Ngau Tau Kok, Cha Kwo Ling, north-east Kowloon, Sha Tin, the Central district of Victoria and Tsuen Wan and district.

The approved plan for the Central district of Victoria provides for expansion of the business and cultural centre of the Colony, and is designed to ensure that vehicular and pedestrian traffic can move easily and safely. Elevated pedestrian ways and traffic cross- ings are proposed with shops at first floor level, the ground and mezzanine floors being used mainly for service deliveries and car parking. This scheme is an ambitious one, in keeping with the times, and one likely to arouse considerable overseas interest on the part of real estate investment companies and developers. Surveys of housing density and industrial employment intensity combined with population distribution forecasts carried out during 1963 helped to provide a firmer basis for planning than had pre- viously existed.