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Convert abandoned Ma Wan Old Village into social housing for 430 families, former Hong Kong planning chief urges
- Ling Kar-kan, now director of PolyU design institute, presents study findings, calling on authorities to amend and speed up stalled development plans
- Residents of fishing settlement mostly gone or relocated after deal between government and Sun Hung Kai Properties
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An old fishing village abandoned for two decades should be turned into temporary housing for the poor, Hong Kong’s former planning chief has urged amid the struggle for land in a space-starved city.
According to Ling Kar-kan, the Ma Wan Old Village, a 200-year-old island settlement tucked under the busy Tsing Ma Bridge, can house at least 430 families waiting for public housing.
Ling was presenting findings from a study by Polytechnic University’s Jockey Club Design Institute for Social Innovation – of which he is director – last week.
Since 1997, hundreds of villagers have moved out or were rehoused on the northern part of the 97-hectare Ma Wan island when Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) reached a deal with the government. The plan was to develop a luxury residential estate, now known as Park Island, and a publicly funded nature park, leaving behind a deserted town, with its derelict low-rise houses.
Land disputes have put second-phase development plans to turn that part of the island into a tourism and cultural heritage site on hold for more than 20 years.
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