ENG-1988 — Page 244

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LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

Since the establishment of LDC, the government has received submissions from LDC for development of 16 sites which largely fall within Mong Kok, Yau Ma Tei, Wan Chai, Sheung Wan and Central. During the year, the Town Planning Board endorsed five planning briefs prepared by the Town Planning Office to facilitiate LDC in its preparation of development schemes of a larger scale. The board also granted planning permission for LDC to undertake five relatively small development projects. In planning for urban renewal with a co-ordinated strategy, consultants appointed by LDC have carried out a series of studies on urban redevelopment opportunities for some of the older built-up districts and the Town Planning Office has actively participated in monitoring and assessing the consultancy work.

Urban environmental improvement schemes particularly with regard to the provision of open space, continued to be given impetus in 1988. About $28 million was spent to acquire private properties within those sites earmarked for open space and government, institu- tional and community uses in the town plans for the urban areas. Considerable efforts were also made towards assembling project sites that had been partially acquired in the urban improvement districts of Western, Wan Chai and Yau Ma Tei.

Resumption of private streets for subsequent government control to improve local environmental conditions is supported by district boards and the public. There are about 300 private streets in the territory with various problems. It is therefore important to draw up a set of selection criteria for the purpose of determining priority. Having considered the factors of safety risk, traffic considerations and environmental nuisance, a total of 14 streets were selected for resumption.

Urban renewal schemes implemented by the Hong Kong Housing Society continue to be accorded special attention. To assist the Housing Society in processing its schemes, properties at Sai Ying Pun, Sheung Wan and Yau Ma Tei were resumed and cleared by the end of the year, at a cost of $100 million.

Private Building

Private sector building continued at an active pace and there was a boost in the demand for property following the lowering of bank interest rates in the early part of this financial year. Among the private building works is the Whampoa Gardens, which is a medium-size residential/commercial redevelopment. The concept behind this scheme is to build a garden city by careful landscaping. The eye-catching feature will be in the form of a 'ship', which is being constructed in recollection of the dry dock which formerly stood on the site. The 'ship' will include high class restaurants, two cinemas and two floors of department stores, and sporting facilities with an indoor swimming pool and a roller rink.

The current Hong Kong hotel building boom includes several major hotel/office development projects, such as the Hong Kong/China Ferry Terminal complex consisting of five office towers, one hotel block and one hotel/office block over a five-storey podium. The nearly-completed Sun Plaza Hotel in Kowloon and the Ramada Inn in Wan Chai, together with proposed extensive expansion to the Peninsula Hotel and Miramar Hotel, will provide further accommodation for Hong Kong's tourism surge.

Other major redevelopment works underway include the 38-storey Chartered Bank and the 25-storey Hang Seng Bank, both of which are in the Central District.

During the year, 666 proposals for private development were submitted for approval to the Buildings Ordinance Office, compared with 734 in 1987. Occupation permits issued for completed buildings numbered 525, providing a total usable floor area of 2 929 105.5 square metres. This represented an increase of 11.4 per cent above the previous year.