ENG-1977 — Page 146

HOUSING AND LAND

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At the end of 1977, piling work began for the new Sha Kok Estate in Sha Tin – the third estate in the fast-expanding new town. Located across the Shing Mun River channel from Lek Yuen, the new estate occupies a site of about 10.5 hectares and, when completed in three phases, will accommodate about 40,000 people in more than 6,000 flats. This housing project is partially financed by a loan of US$20.5 million made to the Hong Kong Government by the Asian Development Bank.

At Tuen Mun New Town, two more sites have been allocated to the Housing Authority for the construction of the two adjoining estates of On Ting and Yau Oi. This will be a massive project housing up to 85,000 people in 18 domestic blocks linked by covered walkways, footbridges and subways to commercial areas.

On Hong Kong Island, the Wah Fu Estate extension will be completed in early 1978, providing 1,430 flats for about 10,700 people.

New Designs

Much thought has been given to the standards to which the authority's housing should be built for the future. It is difficult to keep a proper balance between the urgent needs of today, and the rising aspirations of tomorrow. As Hong Kong grows more prosperous, there will be an increasing demand for better homes, and the authority is determined to build flats that will be regarded as satisfactory for decades to come. Steady improvements are being made in the provision of fittings within flats. All new contracts include such items as folding security gates at flat entrances, wash basins on balconies and a communal television antenna. The standard of space alloca- tion also has been improving for some years, and it must be expected that the demand in future will be for more spacious standards.

The authority is constantly seeking new methods by which blocks of flats can be built more efficiently and, if possible, more cheaply and in a shorter time. Tenders have been framed to allow contractors to put forward modern construction systems involving the use of semi-industrialised components. One such scheme at Wah Fu Estate extension involves an experimental method using large metal formwork. Another scheme under the Public Works Department at Tai Hing Estate, Tuen Mun, involves pre-cast' floor slabs as permanent formwork, in addition to large metal formwork.

Redevelopment

One of the authority's long-term policies is to improve and update the living environ- ment in older estates. The major aspect of this policy is the redevelopment of the 12 Mark I and II estates, which were built between 1954 and 1964 to rehouse fire victims and squatters, and which are still occupied by about 450,000 people. Projects in four estates Shek Kip Mei, Tai Hang Tung, Chai Wan and Tai Wo Hau are being carried out.

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At Shek Kip Mei/Pak Tin, where redevelopment was first introduced, three new blocks at Pak Tin will be completed in early 1978, while five new domestic blocks at Shek Kip Mei will be ready for occupation by nearly 10,000 people by early 1979. Eight old Mark I blocks have already been converted to provide self-contained flats and a further 10 will follow. Including Upper Pak Tin Estate, the total cost of this redevelopment scheme will be about $206 million which, on completion in 1981, will house about 62,000 people.