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Being an international city with its busy trade and traffic everyday, Hong Kong is one of the most charming economic pearl in the world today. Although economic stagnation had visited the territory in the early 1950s, Hong Kong successfully developed its manufacturing industry and has become a world network of trade and industry in a few decades. Apart from this, rapid urbanization has also been experienced since the unparallelled refugee influx from the mainland and the increasing natural growth of the population. Therefore, ideas of new towns emerged and the new town developing have been continuously changing the landscape of the colony.
New towns are planned communities or expanded new urban settlement of moderate size created on virtually virgin undeveloped sites integrating the features of town and country into a single urban form. They are newly built-up garden city of relative low population density with sufficient construction of dwellings and infrastructure surrounded by a reserved greenbelt or open space. A new town is comparatively independent with a sound economic base, self-containment, self-sustainment and self-sufficient. A successful one should provides diverse land use having complete ranges of social, cultural, educational, commercial, industrial, recreational, and public or private services such as proper sewerage, water supplies, hospitals and shopping arcades etc. to satisfy the community as well as entice migration from the urban area so as to solve the congestion and housing problem in the central area. Moreover, it provides different choices of employment opportunities for a wide labour market and a variety of housing for its residents. Job provision must balance the provision of housing and must correspond to the number of potential job seekers. The working population and the non-working population must be balanced. Any new town should avoid the one class nature. It should be large enough to support a well-balanced community for both work and living and with a variety of social, economical, age, and other groups to stimulate a town's self-familiarity and identity so that people can easily get to know one another and acquire a sense of neighbourliness and community. Wide public transport network within a new town and links to the urban areas should be provided in order to minimize commuting behaviour. Furthermore, environment protection should be concerned so as to give a pleasant and healthy living. The planning process involves two prime phases : choosing a region and a locality within it to designate a specific site for a new town. For both, data must be gathered and analyzed concerning cost benefit, patterns of land ownership and land value. To begin with, a planning team is formed comprising professionals to define the goals and objectives of the proposed new town based on the variety of problems the new town should solve by surveys and information gathering. Economic, social, physical, environmental, climatic factors must be considered in a feasibility study in the earliest planning stage. Next, general regional study including data gathering and analysis is examined for industry. Comprehensive details consisting of topography, land suitability, transportation network as well as open space should be gathered. Then, new town development corporations are established. It may involve private firms which play an important role in new town development since their investment can stimulate the economy in the area. After this, necessary factors are evacuated in selecting a site. All pertinent criteria must be clearly identified. Great foresight must be used to make a choice that will adapt to all future changes if the new town is to survive. Moreover, political and ecological reasons should be concerned in selecting a preferred site. Regional boundary is defined within the potential area. The boundary may be administrative, political, geographical, economical or political. A site map should be prepared immediately after a site has been selected. Lack of detailed base map may cause repercussions in later stages. Aerial photographs should be taken for the site analysis. Contour maps should also be drawn including drainage, water patterns, transportation networks, communication system, infrastructure, political jurisdictions, administrative lines, census tracts, as well as any existing structures, wooded areas and settlements. After, financial recourses are secured and managed from public and private sectors for the project, major portion of land is assemblaged by the government using legislative power to support private developers and eliminate land speculation. Then, an interdisciplinary planning study is carried on with the preparation of a comprehensive strategic plan e.g. drainage, sewage disposal, water supply, electric cables, telecommunication. Then, cost-benefit of the plan is analyzed. After the preparation of a detailed developmental plan by priorities and phases e.g. job opportunities, land taxation system, housing market, land ownership pattern, educational facilities and energy resources, prime site is selected and the plan is implemented. |
