ENG-1976 — Page 136

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HOUSING AND LAND

Another estate which will provide homes for 11,000 people is being built in urban Kowloon close to the Choi Hung estate. The Housing Authority awarded a $34 million contract to a local construction firm in June for the building of the new Fu Shan estate, which is expected to be completed in early 1978. A large podium is to be formed and one seven-storey and two 21-storey blocks providing 1,600 self-contained flats will be built on it. Under the podium will be a two-storey commercial centre hous- ing a large restaurant and shops, and spaces for service trades. There will also be a children's play area and a car park for 150 vehicles. A market area will be located on the inner part of the podium and a primary school has been planned at the eastern corner of the estate.

During the year the Housing Authority announced new building designs. The new H-shaped 'point blocks' will give tenants more privacy and better light and ventilation. Flats in this new design will have slightly bigger kitchens, toilets and balconies. There will also be a better lift service. The new plan will provide different sized flats and fewer units on each floor compared with earlier designs. Each floor will have eight flats of about 380 square feet and four two-bedroom flats of about 700 square feet. The new design will also give architects more flexibility to plan various combinations to give estates more interesting and varied layouts.

Redevelopment

Aside from new estates, the Housing Authority has embarked on a long-term $1,800-million programme to relieve overcrowding by redeveloping all estates built between 1954 and 1964. There are 12 such estates which accommodate about half a million people and occupy about 270 acres of land in strategically located areas. These blocks provide for only communal toilets and washrooms, and cooking is done on open balconies. Space in the old blocks was originally allocated at 24 square feet per adult but acute overcrowding below this standard is commonplace. Facilities such as purpose-designed schools, recreation areas, markets and off-street parking are seriously lacking, thus adding to the general congestion. Management costs greatly exceed revenue from rents, the deficit for these estates alone amounting to about $29 million in 1975-6.

Four redevelopment schemes are already in progress. Since the first scheme was started at Shek Kip Mei in October 1972, steady progress has been made towards the transformation of these old estates. Work has been concentrated both on the development of new reception estates to rehouse affected tenants and on the modern- isation of the old estates. Remodelling of the estates has so far been accomplished partly by conversion and partly by complete redevelopment-which will assume a more dominant role in years to come.

The Shek Kip Mei estate originally housed about 62,000 people at a density of more than 2,000 people per acre. Upon completion of the redevelopment scheme it will accommodate approximately 33,000 people. It is envisaged that 19 of the 29 original blocks will be modernised by converting back-to-back units into self- contained flats. But 10 blocks in the centre of the estate will be demolished and the site used for the construction of a new commercial complex linked with high-rise