TABLE OF CONTENTS - The Professional Green Building Council

Theme B: Creating a livable, healthy and environmentally viable citiesHowever, by the late 1980s the Estate was in very poor condition and with anaging population. Prosperity and education had improved dramatically from the1960s, and consequently public expectations went beyond the desire for simpleshelter. The non self-contained accommodation of the type provided in the earlyestates was no longer acceptable.2. THE OLD KWAI CHUNG ESTATEKwai Chung Estate is located in Upper Kwai Chung district, in the Western NewTerritories of Hong Kong and provided homes for 22,000 people in 42 Mark II andMark III blocks of reinforced concrete construction. These buildings were some ofthe earliest forms of public housing in Hong Kong and were eight storey walk-upblocks with single room flats and shared toilet and washroom facilities. Each flatwas designed as single room with no partitions and no water supply. Flat size wasabout 14-21 sq. meters to accommodate 4-6 persons (2.3m 2 per person).The old estate had no proper public transport facilities, shops were scattered underthe blocks, and road network split the estate into small irregular sites and madeaccess difficult. Car parking spaces were insufficient and not well planned tosegregate from pedestrians within the Estate. Local open spaces were also isolatedand uncoordinated with minimum soft landscape work and recreational facilities.The whole Estate were only planned and built to meet the housing demand withminimum provision of facilities.267