ENG-2002 — Page 267

LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

New Towns and Rural Townships

The development of new towns in the New Territories continued in 2002. At year-end, about 3.28 million people were housed in the new towns and the nearby rural townships, enjoying a wide range of community and recreational facilities, including schools, markets, shopping centres, parks and open spaces and convenient transport links.

Engineering design and construction works on land formation and infrastructure of the developments are overseen and coordinated by the TDD.

Landscape Design and the Natural Environment

Extensive landscape works continued to be implemented in conjunction with the developments, providing a green framework to the new neighbourhoods. Trees are planted along roadsides to provide shade and colour and attention is given to the provision and design of sitting-out areas and walkways for the public's enjoyment.

Ecological restoration works have also been undertaken in accordance with environmental impact assessment studies to mitigate the impact of engineering works. Recent works of this type include the creation of wetland wildlife habitats associated with river training works in the north-western New Territories and the ongoing construction of a major wetland area near Tin Shui Wai.

The large-scale afforestation programme continued in the hinterland of the new towns and urban development areas to reduce soil erosion by water run-off from hillsides, thereby preventing siltation of drainage systems and enhancing the countryside. Over 10 million trees have been planted in the last five years.

Tsuen Wan

Tsuen Wan new town embraces the areas of Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi Island. It covers a total development area of about 2 450 hectares and has a current population of about 757 000. The population is expected to rise to about 829 000 by 2011. The new town has Hong Kong's container terminals in its midst in the Kwai Chung area. The Container Terminal 9 is under construction in south-east Tsing Yi and expected to be completed by 2005.

Major highway projects are being implemented or planned to further extend and reinforce the main road network. The Tsing Yi North Coastal Road was completed in early 2002. The Castle Peak Road improvement between Belvedere Garden in Tsuen Wan and Sham Tseng, and from Sham Tseng to Ka Loon Tsuen near Tsing Lung Tau is being implemented. Construction of Route 9 between Tsing Yi and Cheung Sha Wan, and the section of Route 5 between Shek Wai Kok and Chai Wan Kok are in progress. The KCRC West Rail is under construction and will have one station in Tsuen Wan West.

Sha Tin

Sha Tin new town embraces the areas of Sha Tin and Ma On Shan. It covers a total development area of about 2 000 hectares. It is already home to about 635 000 people, approximately 62 per cent of whom live in public permanent housing developments. At present, there are 16 public rental estates and 25 home ownership and private sector participation scheme developments. The population of the new town is expected to increase to about 699 000 by 2011.

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