ENG-1980 — Page 145

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HOUSING AND LAND

highest in the world. However, every effort is being made to extract the optimum develop- ment potential from the less intensively developed sites, some of which are occupied by squatter huts and resettlement cottages built in the 1950s.

In east Kowloon, further phases of Shun Lee Estate, including the first cinema to be built in a public housing estate, were completed in 1980. Work also continued on additional phases of the neighbouring Shun On Estate. These two estates, together with the Shun Chi Court Home Ownership Scheme, are well on the way to forming a large, self-contained community of 69,000 people. Nearby, a further 776 flats in the fourth phase of Choi Wan Estate were completed.

To the south of this area, work progressed on Kai Yip Estate, which is being built on the former RAF Kai Tak site to provide homes for more than 21,000 people, while at Sham Shui Po, in west Kowloon, another site formerly occupied by the military was being turned into a similar-sized estate to be known as Lai Kok.

During the year, families moved into the first 2,200 flats to be built on the island of Ap Lei Chau, overlooking crowded Aberdeen Harbour on Hong Kong Island.

Work also continued on a massive redevelopment programme aimed at improving the living conditions of about 340,000 people occupying 12 Mark I and II resettlement estates built as emergency housing between 1954 and 1964.

Housing in the New Towns

During 1980, an increasingly large number of flats were 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 genera- tion of estates to be planned with more generous densities. 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 new town, the first two phases of Shek Wai Kok Estate were completed to provide 3,112 flats and work began on the final two phases, which will produce a further 3,340 flats.

On Tsing Yi Island, a five-storey commercial complex was completed at Cheung Hong Estate and work continued on an extension that will provide a further 720 flats.

Some 12 public housing estates are planned for the new town of Sha Tin, where a population of about 200,000 will have become established by the mid-1980s. At the third of these estates, Sha Kok, four domestic blocks containing 3,400 flats and a commercial complex were completed.

To the south, the first four blocks of Sun Tin Wai Estate were finished at the end of the year to provide 1,730 flats.

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Work also began on Mei Lam Estate, the first phase of which will involve the construc- tion of 2,880 flats, and layout plans were approved for a further three estates Pok Hang, San Tin and Tin Sam. Together, these three estates will provide 17,460 flats for 86,700 people.

At the third new town of Tuen Mun, which is also planned to house more than half a million people by the middle of this decade, the authority's 100th public housing estate, On Ting, was opened in December. This estate, together with its 'sister', Yau Oi, will provide a total of 15,500 flats for 84,600 people.