ENG-1967 — Page 168

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LAND AND HOUSING

Territories (the last figure includes modification of tenancy fees). As permanent development continues, permits are cancelled and the number decreases year by year. Revenue derived in rent from government-owned buildings totalled $4,432,000.

SURVEYS

Land survey in the Colony serves two main roles: the delineation of town planning layouts, boundaries of private lots and govern- ment sites and the production of plans and maps.

The reduction in land transactions over the past year has resulted in a reduced demand for cadastral work so that concentration has been on mapping. By the end of 1967 Hong Kong was well on the way to becoming one of the best-mapped areas in the Far East.

Production of the large-scale plans from the low-level air pho- tography of 1963 is about 60 per cent complete. Virtually all the urban areas, including the whole of Hong Kong Island, are now covered by about 600 plans at the large scale of 50 feet to an inch, with contours at five feet vertical interval. In the New Territories some 460 plans, at a scale of 100 feet to one inch (with contours at 10 feet vertical interval), are now complete out of the total of about 1,100 plans which will cover the whole of the area. Most of this extensive mapping programme has been undertaken by the air survey contractors, Hunting Surveys Limited in England, in conjunction with the Crown Lands & Survey Office.

From the large scale plans, other series are produced by photo- graphic reduction and re-drawing at 1/2400 scale (200 feet to one inch) for the urban areas and at 1/4800 scale (400 feet to one inch) for the New Territories.

A new series of topographic maps of the Colony at a scale of 1/10,000 (about six inches to a mile) is being plotted in the United Kingdom by the Directorate of Overseas Surveys from high level photography commissioned by the Hong Kong Government. These maps, printed in five colours, should fill a long felt need for tourists and walkers. The first sheets should be on sale to the public early in 1968.

As the sheets are complete they will be reduced photographically to compile a new series at 1/25,000 scale (about 24 inches to a mile)