ENG-1992 — Page 226

LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

waterfront industries and cargo working area within the study area. To enable detailed planning and design to proceed for port facilities with deep waterfront industries, including potentially hazardous installations, on the eastern side of Tseung Kwan O, the Engineering Feasibility Study of the Development of Tseung Kwan O Area 137 began in February 1992 with the objective of producing an outline engineering design for the area.

Airport-Related Development

To facilitate the operation of the new airport at Chek Lap Kok, an airport support community was proposed in the PADS to be developed in Tung Chung and Tai Ho areas in the northern part of Lantau Island. In July 1990, consultants were appointed by the government to carry out the planning of this community. It was recommended that a new town should be developed which would incorporate residential, industrial and commercial activities and all the necessary backup infrastructure requirements both for the new town itself and to serve, where practicable, the new airport. The proposed new town would involve about 760 hectares of land with a designed population capacity of 200 000 persons up to 2011.

This new town is likely to be the latest generation of new towns in Hong Kong. It provides a unique opportunity to create a well planned, high amenity living environment which will serve as an important 'gateway' for air travellers to and from Hong Kong. Indeed, in designing the town centre special attention was given to establishing the image of the town.

The new town comprises two discrete urban development areas at Tung Chung and Tai Ho with proposed populations of 150 000 and 50 000 respectively by 2011. Residential and commercial developments are concentrated in the town centre and two district centres in Tung Chung and Tai Ho, each incorporating a Lantau Line railway station and public transport terminus. The town centre provides the retail, commercial and cultural core of the new town. The necessary retail and commercial uses will be distributed in a hierarchy of centres comprising the town centre, district centres serving Tung Chung and Tai Ho, and local centres within housing areas. Land will be reserved at Siu Ho Wan for airport related industrial uses. A number of major utilities including a water treatment works, a sewage treatment works, a railway depot and a refuse transfer station will also be located at Siu Ho Wan.

There will be four phases of development for the new town between now and 2011. The first phase of the development, which is earmarked as one of the Airport Core Programme projects, will be completed by 1997 to coincide with the opening of the new airport and will accommodate about 20 000 residents at Tung Chung. Site formation works, involving substantial reclamation, are in progress.

Two independent authorities have been set up to administer the new airport and the sea port developments. The Provisional Airport Authority is concerned with the Chek Lap Kok airport development, while the Port Development Board deals with sea port plans. See chapters 16 and 17 for details of the airport and sea port respectively.

New Towns and Rural Townships

The programme for Hong Kong's new towns is an expansion of the initial 10-year housing programme aimed at providing proper living conditions for 1.8 million people. Starting from new town development programmes back in 1973 to co-ordinate planning and

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