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1.2.17 The way in which these reclamations are developed, and their timing, is ofconsiderable importance to the Territory transport strategy. They will afford opportunitiesfor developing high class transport links close to the main business districts.However, they will aiso impose their own demands on the transport system, andthese could be considerable. Thus the outcome of the reclamation studies will be amajor input to the continuing work of CTS.1.2.18 Metroplan— Metroplan is a study to prepare a comprehensive master plan for theupgrading and "redevelopment of the main urban area encompassing Hong KongIsland, Kowloon and Tsuen Wan. Many districts were built to very high densities as aresult of the rapid public housing development programmes of the 1950s and 1960s:parts of these districts are now in a decaying condition and lack essential communityamenities. Housing Authority is planning a comprehensive redevelopment programmewhich aims to redevelop all old housing blocks by 2001.1.2.19 Transport considerations will be a very important element of Metroplan, andTransport Department will be closely involved in the project.Continuing Nature of the CTS Study1.2.20 Fixed master plans are of dubious value in a rapidly developing and changingsociety; too many factors can change to undermine the assumptions in the plan. Totake just one example, in parallel with CTS-2, the Government has been exploringdevelopment options for a replacement airport. Ciearly, a decision to move theairport would have major implications for the re-development of Kowloon and onthe transport strategy for this area.1.2.21 Because of the uncertainty associated with future developments, it was plannedfrom the outset that CTS-2 should be the start of a continuing process. This decisionhad institutional implications (see later in Section 1.4) but also affected the thrust ofthe analyses of CTS-2. Therefore, while the Study has prepared an investment planto cover the entire planning period of the Study (1986-2001), the emphasis was onidentifying projects for implementation within the next few years. Subject toapproval, these will be the projects which will go forward into the public worksprogramme. Another important element of the Study is the analysis of transportpolicy issues which will be,a useful tool to manage transport demands to acceptablelevels.1.2.22 It is intended that a special division of Government will carry on the CTS process,• using the techniques and procedures set up during CTS-2. Thus later projects in theCTS-2 programme, as well as transport policies, will be re-assessed at regularintervals in the light of actual developments and changes in Territory forecasts.Always the emphasis will be on identifying the projects for immediate planning andconstruction within the framework of longer term plans. In this way, the transportstrategy will be continually updated to meet the changing needs of Hong Kong.1.3 Contents of the Report1.3.1 The report is written in ten chapters, as follows:Chapter 11ntroduction—giving the background to the Study work.Chapter 2 Study Approach—describing briefly the main data sources and Studymethodology.Chapter 3 Transport Trends and Issues—presenting an overview of developments intransport in Hong Kong over recent years, and commenting on the issues raised.Chapter 4 Planning Characteristics and Projections—describing the main assumptionsof the Study concerning future development of the Territory, set in the contextof the recent past.18