New towns of Hong Kong
The
Plans to develop new areas were continued in the late 1960s and 1970s, when the name “new town” was officially adopted. As most flat lands in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon had already been developed, the government proposed to build new towns in the New Territories, a largely rural area at that time. The first phase of new-town development, which began in 1973, included Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun. With the success of these new towns, and the experience gained from building them, the government launched further stages of new-town development in subsequent decades. To date, nine new towns have been built, and about half of the Hong Kong population lives in these newly developed areas. After the government had built a new town on Lantau Island in the 1990s, the pace at which it developed new towns slowed in the 2000s, owing to lower population growth. As demand rose in the housing market and it became difficult for residents to buy new homes, the Hong Kong government suggested that new towns be built again in the 2010s, hoping thereby to increase the supply in the private housing market and provide more flats for public housing. For example, Hung Shui Kiu New Town, Kwu Tung North New Town and North Fanling New Town have been proposed by the government and currently under public consultation.
Land use is carefully planned in new towns, and development sets aside plenty of room for public housing projects. Highways, tunnels, bridges and railways have been built for accessibility. The first few new towns, such as Tuen Mun, Sha Tin, Yuen Long and Tai Po, were intended to be self-reliant, each having not only residential areas but also commercial, industrial and recreational areas, such that residents would not need to travel between the new towns and the city centre for work and leisure. To this end, a few industrial estates, such as Tai Po Industrial Estate and Yuen Long Industrial Estate, were built to provide work opportunities for the residents in the nearby new towns. Although the government successfully turned most of the new towns's town centres into vibrant commercial and cultural centres in their areas, the overall objective of self-reliance for the new towns failed, since most residents still had their jobs in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon; the objective became impossible to accomplish when most of Hong Kong's secondary sector industries had moved to China.
History
The British government had developed
Satellite towns
Before the 1950s, most of the population in Hong Kong lived in Hong Kong's urban area, namely the central and western parts of the Kowloon Peninsula and the northern coast of Hong Kong Island. After the
New towns
In the late 1960s and the 1970s, another stage of new-town developments was launched and the term "new town" was officially adopted. As most flat lands in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island had already been developed, the government proposed to build new towns in New Territories, a largely rural area at that time.[1] Kwun Tong, as the first satellite town, was not considered as a new town, as it was part of Kowloon and regarded by the government as part of the urban area. The first phase of new town development was unveiled in 1973, including Tsuen Wan New Town, which as a satellite town was not brought to full-scale development, and also Sha Tin New Town[1] and Tuen Mun New Town. These new towns were intended to accommodate a few hundred thousand people each.[2] For example, according to the first plan in 1961, the government planned to accommodate 360,000 people in Sha Tin once the entire new town had been built; the estimated population in Sha Tin rose to 500,000 in the planning of the early 1970s.[1] In the corresponding areas, land was reclaimed to create new space for some of the new towns. These newly developed towns, maturing in the 1980s, provided new homes to more than 1 million Hong Kong people.
The first phase having succeeded, Hong Kong government proposed later in the 1970s to build New Towns in other areas as well. As part of this second phase, the development of
New Town development slowed in the 2000s, on account of unexpectedly slow population growth. Indeed, even the development of North Lantau New Town was hindered[by whom?]: the population of North Lantau New Town was just 80,000 in early 2010s, less than half of the 200,000 originally planned. No additional new towns were established in the 2000s and early 2010s, and new-town development was restricted to further development of the ones already developed. In response to excess housing demand since the late 2000s, however, which resulted in extremely high housing prices and rents as well as very long queues in pending for public housing, government considered to add to the number of new towns again. In the early 2010s, the government proposed to build new towns in Hung Shui Kiu, Kwu Tung, North Fanling and Ping Che-Ta Kwu Ling.[7] The proposals are matters of heated public debate; if the proposals are adopted, construction work is expected to begin in the mid-2010s, and its first phase to end in the early 2020s.
Urban planning
The planning of the new towns was, in colonial history, the first major attempt at horizontal coordination among government departments. Regarding it as a cornerstone of Hong Kong social policy, the colonial government aimed to alleviate urban overpopulation and improve quality of life for ordinary citizens.[8] It planned all new towns carefully, with the objective that the new towns should be self-reliant.[9] Besides residential areas, then, the government included commercial, industrial and recreational areas in the planning of the new towns in the first two phases, such that the new towns could provide their residents with enough job opportunities. The attempt, if successful, could minimise the need for transportation between the new towns and the city centre, lowering both residents’ travel expenditures and the burden on the transportation system. For this reason, the government planned industrial areas near all the new towns it planned before the 1980s:
- Sha Tin New Town: Fo Tan and Shek Mun;
- Tuen Mun New Town: Tuen Mun Industrial Area 屯門工業區, west of the Tuen Mun River, north of Wong Chu Road, east of Shan King Estate and south of Tai Hing Gardens;
- Tsuen Wan New Town: Chai Wan Kok Industrial Area 柴灣角工業區, Texaco Industrial Area 德士古工業區 and Kwai Chung;
- Fanling-Sheung Shui New Town: On Lok Tsuen Industrial Area 安樂村工業區;
- Tai Po New Town: Tai Po Industrial Estate 大埔工業邨;[10]
- Yuen Long New Town: Yuen Long Industrial Estate 元朗工業邨.[11]
The idea did not work, however. In the 1980s, when the new towns were developing at their highest pace, secondary sector industries in Hong Kong began moving to the Mainland China, where costs were much lower, and Hong Kong gradually emerged instead as a commercial and financial centre in the region. In consequence, most of the work opportunities remained in the urban areas, forcing residents in the new towns to travel between the new towns and the city centre every day. From the 1990s on, when Hong Kong had almost no more substantial secondary industries, the industrial buildings were repurposed into offices and warehouses, or even rebuilt as residential apartments. The new towns planned in the 1980s and 1990s had either no more industrial areas (e.g. Tin Shui Wai New Town and Tung Chung), or industrial areas with only high-value-adding industries allowed (e.g. Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate[5] 將軍澳工業邨).
Town centres
Typically, a new town was planned and developed around a town centre, which was the town's business, cultural and traffic hub. For example, in the town centres of Tuen Mun New Town[9] and Sha Tin New Town, one can find shopping centres, public libraries, theatres, government offices, parks, and bus terminuses. Any new town with a railway station had its town centre planned near it. Tsuen Wan New Town was distinctive in having more than one town centre, situated around Tsuen Wan station and Kwai Fong station, and later also around Tsing Yi station after Tsuen Wan New Town had expanded to Tsing Yi. With the exception of Tin Shui Wai New Town, the only new town without a clear town centre, the new towns’ town centres became vibrant business and cultural hubs of their areas.
Transport
Transport is vital for the new towns, and thus is planned with care. Before the development of new towns, most areas in the New Territories were poorly connected; new development required both roads and public transport.
To ease the traffic between the new towns and the urban area, new roads and highways were built. For example, Tuen Mun Road and Tolo Highway were two principal highways built in the late 1970s and early 1980s to connect the new towns in western New Territories and eastern New Territories to New Kowloon; tunnels (e.g. Lion Rock Tunnel and Tate's Cairn Tunnel) and bridges (e.g. Tsing Yi Bridge) were also built to shorten travel times.
Public transport was also developed. Many new towns were planned with new railway lines (e.g. MTR stations in Tsuen Wan New Town, Tseung Kwan O New Town, Tung Chung and the Ma On Shan Rail for Ma On Shan[1]). The Kowloon–Canton Railway was electrified in the early 1980s in order to provide convenient transport to the new towns at Fanling-Sheung Shui, Tai Po and Sha Tin.
New towns in the north-western New Territories were connected by
Housing
New towns’ residential areas have both private and public housing.
Land reclamation
When new towns were first developed, land reclamation was an important way of gaining land to build on. Large areas were gained by land reclamations in Sha Tin, Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun, Tai Po, Tsing Yi, Ma On Shan, Tin Shui Wai, Tseung Kwan O and Tung Chung – 7 of 9 new towns, with Fanling-Sheung Shui New Town and Yuen Long New Town being the only exceptions.[12][13]
Established new towns
New Towns | Time of development | 2012 population | Planned population | Area (km2) | Population density (people/km2) | Administrative division |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tsuen Wan New Town (including Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung, and Tsing Yi) |
1959 (construction and planning begins, as satellite town)[14][15] 1961 (formal, full scale development as new town)[16][17][18] |
856,000 | 845,000 | 24.00 | 32,300 | Tsuen Wan District and Kwai Tsing District |
Sha Tin New Town (including Sha Tin, Tai Wai, and Ma On Shan) |
1973 | 636,000 | 735,000 | 35.87 | 18,000 | Sha Tin District |
Tuen Mun New Town | 1973 | 486,000 | 649,000 | 19.00 | 25,710 | Tuen Mun District |
Tai Po New Town | 1976 | 265,000 | 347,000 | 12.70 | 22,200 | Tai Po District |
Yuen Long New Town | 1977 | 148,000 | 196,000 | 11.70 | 18,000 | Yuen Long District |
Fanling-Sheung Shui New Town |
1978 | 255,000 | 291,000 | 7.80 | 31,300 | North District |
) | 1982 | 372,000 | 450,000 | 10.05 | 34,800 | Sai Kung District |
Tin Shui Wai New Town |
1987 | 288,000 | 306,000 | 4.30 | 63,000 | Yuen Long District |
North Lantau New Town (Currently only includes Tung Chung) |
1996 | 78,000 | 220,000 | 8.30 | 9,700 | Islands District |
Planned new towns
- Yuen Long District
- Tin Shui Wai New Town and Yuen Long New Town)
- North District (North East New Territories New Development Areas Planning)
- Kwu Tung North New Town
- Fanling-Sheung Shui New Town)
- Ping Che-Ta Kwu Ling New Town (Suspended)[19]
- Islands District
- North Lantau New Town (Tung Chung Development Plan Phase 3 and Phase 4)[20]
Planned new districts in established new towns
- Yuen Long District
- Yuen Long South (Yuen Long New Town)
- Kam Tin South (Yuen Long New Town)
- Tai Po District
- Sai Kung District
- Tseung Kwan O New Town)
- Tseung Kwan O New Town)
- Sha Tin District
- Tuen Mun District
- Others
- Fanling-Sheung Shui New Town)
References
- ^ a b c d "Historical Background". www.pland.gov.hk. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ a b "Factsheet" (PDF). gov.hk.
- ^ "Historical Background". www.pland.gov.hk. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "Historical Background". www.pland.gov.hk. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ a b "Historical Background". www.pland.gov.hk. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "Development Phases of North Lantau New Town". www.pland.gov.hk.
- ^ "North East New Territories New Development Areas - The Study". www.nentnda.gov.hk. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- JSTOR 2643702.
- ^ a b "Planning Concepts". www.pland.gov.hk. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "Government Planned Development". www.pland.gov.hk. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "Planning Concepts". www.pland.gov.hk. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "香港地方 | 地方 | 填海工程". www.hk-place.com. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "Reclamation & Development in Hong Kong 1996". Retrieved 16 September 2023.
- ^ "Tsuen Wan Town Hall - A Changing Town".
- ^ Book dsd.gov.hk [dead link]
- ^ ""Tsuen Wan Legend" to celebrate 50th anniversary of Tsuen Wan New Town". info.gov.hk. 3 March 2011.
- ^ "Urban Mapping".
- ^ "Tsuen Wan New Town" (PDF). Tsuen Wan and West Kowloon District Planning Office, Planning Department of Hong Kong. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ "Result of North East New Territories New Development Areas Planning and Engineering Study (with video)". www.info.gov.hk.
- ^ "Tung Chung New Town Extension Study". Archived from the original on 28 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
Further reading
- Van Dijk, Terry; Weitkamp, Gerd (6 March 2017). "Places from the Past lost in New Towns: Hong Kong's Old Villages" (PDF). METU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture. 35 (2). .