ENG-2020 — Page 386

22

History

arrived with units of the British Pacific Fleet to establish a temporary military government. Civil government was formally restored on 1 May 1946, when Sir Mark Young resumed his interrupted governorship.

Post-war Years

After the Japanese surrender, Chinese civilians, many of whom had moved to the Mainland during the war, returned at a rate of almost 100,000 a month. The population, which by August 1945 had been reduced to about 600,000, rose by the end of 1947 to an estimated 1.8 million. In 1948-49, as the forces of the Chinese Nationalist Government faced defeat in civil war at the hands of the Communists, Hong Kong received an influx unparalleled in its history. Hundreds of thousands of people, mainly from Kwangtung (Guangdong) province, Shanghai and other commercial centres, entered during 1949 and the spring of 1950. By mid-1950, the population had reached an estimated 2.2 million. Population numbers have continued to grow: four million by 1971, five million by 1980, six million by 1994, and now over seven million.

The surge of people in the early 1950s led to a drastic increase in the number of squatters. A squatter fire left 53,000 people homeless on Christmas Day 1953, and the government responded with emergency rehousing measures, marking the start of the public housing programme. It has since developed into a comprehensive programme providing public rental housing and subsidised sale flats. In the fourth quarter of 2020, about 30 per cent and 15 per cent of the population were living in public rental housing and subsidised sale flats respectively.

Hong Kong started to industrialise to overcome economic stagnation caused by the United Nations' trade embargo on China in 1951 arising from the Korean war. No longer could the city rely solely on its port to provide prosperity for its swollen population. The rise of its manufacturing sector began with the setting up of textile mills. These expanded their range of products that, by the 1960s, included man-made fibres and garments. During this decade, textiles and clothing made up about half of domestic exports by value.

During 1967, a series of civil disturbances occurred, affecting all aspects of life and temporarily paralysing the economy. The disturbances were contained by the year's end and the community resumed its tradition of peaceful progress.

In the late 1960s, Hong Kong continued to expand as an entrepôt, particularly for trade with Mainland China. Coupled with tourism, this led to vastly improved communications, with an increasing number of people entering the Mainland each year from or through Hong Kong, the natural gateway.

In the 1970s, the government launched two far-sighted initiatives that have physically shaped Hong Kong to this day. The first was a decision in 1972 to develop new towns in the New Territories as part of a 10-year housing programme. Nine new towns were developed over the next two decades and these now house about 47 per cent of the population, easing pressure on the development of the main urban areas. With the enactment of the Country Parks Ordinance in 1976, Hong Kong created a legal framework to establish country parks and special

322