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Urban Housing and Redevelopment

HOUSING AND LAND

Private development and some 67 public housing estates occupy most of the developable land on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon, where population densities are among the highest in the world. However, every effort is being made to extract the optimum develop- ment potential from the remaining sites, many of which are occupied by squatter huts and resettlement cottages built in the 1950s.

In east Kowloon, domestic blocks containing 2,352 flats and a large commercial complex were completed at Shun Lee Estate, which was opened by the Governor in March, 1979. Further phases are still under construction to provide a large, self-contained neighbourhood which will eventually house some 60,000 people. A further 3,590 flats were completed in the neighbouring Choi Wan Estate where the final housing blocks are nearing completion. At Pak Tin Estate in west Kowloon, the Public Works Department completed the final three blocks containing 1,672 flats and a commercial complex. This work, along with two further phases of the nearby Shek Kip Mei Estate redevelopment scheme comprising 2,000 flats and a large market, will contribute to 32 per cent of the old estate population eventually being rehoused. It has been agreed that the remaining stages will be undertaken by the Housing Department. Nearby, the building of two more blocks comprising 796 flats at Nam Shan Estate resulted in further progress being made on the Tai Hang Tung Estate redevelopment scheme.

At Chai Wan on Hong Kong Island, a new 26-storey block containing 918 flats towered over the Mark I and II blocks still being redeveloped at the old Chai Wan Estate.

Some 2,202 flats in the first phase of a new estate on Ap Lei Chau, overlooking crowded Aberdeen Harbour, were completed at the end of the year. The flats will be occupied as soon as the new bridge to Hong Kong Island is opened.

Housing in the New Towns

Most new housing produced during 1979 was built in the urban areas of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. But this trend will change in 1980 when an increasingly large number of flats will be completed in the New Territories' new towns of Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun, where major schemes are under construction. The greater availability of land in the New Territories enables the new generation of estates to be planned with a density of about 2,500 people per hectare. Space is provided for recreation grounds, schools and kindergartens, commercial centres and all other services required by new communities. As the average family size is declining and overall demand is still increasing, planning standards of future estates are being modified to provide a larger number of smaller flats, while keeping to this density standard.

In Tsuen Wan, a further two blocks and a large commercial centre/carpark completed the attractive estate of Cheung Shan (1,607 flats) in the north Tsuen Wan foothills. Nearby, three new blocks of 720 smaller flats were nearing completion at Lei Muk Shue Estate. On Tsing Yi Island, a further three blocks containing 1,152 flats were also nearing com- pletion at the large Cheung Hong Estate. The first phase of the redevelopment of Tai Wo Hau Estate was also carried out during the year.

Some 11 public housing estates are planned for Sha Tin, which will have an eventual population of about 570,000 by the mid-1980s. At the second of these estates, Wo Che, two blocks of 604 smaller flats were completed in January and a further six blocks con- taining 2,923 flats at the end of the year. All these domestic blocks are connected by first-floor pedestrian walkways to a central commercial centre occupying a gross area of six hectares. In September, the first of the 179 shops in the complex were let on a tendered