59-531: Tai Po New Town , or Tai Po Town (Chinese: 大埔新市鎮), is a new town ( satellite town ) and non-administrative area in Tai Po District , in the New Territories , Hong Kong. The area is a planned town that surrounding the existing indigenous market towns of Tai Po Hui (literally Tai Po Market , also known as Tai Wo Shi in the 1900s) and Tai Po Kau Hui ( Tai Po Old Market ), as well as east of
118-449: 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
177-466: A petition. Of those 25 sites, only 6 of them were included in the stage 2 public consultation, which only included the aforementioned one in Tolo Harbour, but excluding the three other sites near Tai Po New Town. In 2018, one of the 6 sites in the stage 2 consultation, became a new project known as Lantau Tomorrow Vision . However, many citizens and environmental protection organizations were against
236-472: A public consultation. In those 25 sites, some of them were located in Tai Po District which were near to the existing Tai Po new town. In particular, the residents of Tai Po who were against the sites near Plover Cove , Tai Po Waterfront Park and Tai Po Kau by forming online interest group. Another proposed site near Pak Shek Kok in the Tolo Harbour , had also gathered more than 3,000 signatures in
295-537: 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
354-513: A supporting town for the then- newly constructed airport in Chek Lap Kok . At present, there are nine new towns in all. 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 : 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
413-535: Is an MTR station on the East Rail line in the New Territories , Hong Kong. Located between Flagstaff Hill and Wan Tau Tong Estate in Tai Po , and adjacent to the eponymous market town , the station has three tracks and four platforms. Platform 1 is for northbound trains to border crossing stations at Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau and platform 4 is for southbound trains to Admiralty, Kowloon while platforms 2 and 3 use
472-457: Is one of the major industrial estates in Hong Kong. The gas factory of Hong Kong and China Gas was located in the estate. As of 2018, the estate also consists of tenants such as Asia Television , AsiaSat , APT Satellite , Oriental Press Group , South China Morning Post Publishers etc.. Tai Po New Town also had a smaller industrial area known as Tai Ping Industrial Centre. The new town
531-501: 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
590-713: The British Empire , the colonial Hong Kong government also established the District Office North (founded as District Office which also oversee villages that belongs to the present day Sha Tin District ), an administrate department, in the area that belongs to the modern day Tai Po New Town in 1907. The building was next to the former site of the Tai Po police station , as well as the Island House ,
649-766: The Home Ownership Scheme . The New Town project also made Yuen Chau Tsai fishing village obsolete. Fishermen that formerly lived on their boats, were relocated in the 1970s, initially to temporary housing areas such as Yue Kok ( 漁角 ; 'fishing corner'), and then public housing estates. Yuen Chau Tsai is now known for Island House, the fishermen temple, Tai Wong Yeh Temple, and nearby Yuen Chau Tsai Park. Wong Shiu Chi Secondary School , SKH Bishop Mok Sau Tseng Secondary School and Carmel Pak U Secondary School , all of which are subsidized secondary schools, were founded in 1960, 1975 and 1979 respectively. Tai Po Government Secondary School [ zh ] ,
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#1732786795558708-585: The Plover Cove by the name of the local street Luk Heung Lane ( 陸鄉里 ), a namesake of Luk Heung (literally Six Villages ), as well as an ancestral hall. Those villages from Luk Heung conducted their business activities in Sha Tau Kok in the past. The Lane-Square in Tai Po [ zh ] , or known as the "Four Lanes" were also built circa the 1960s. In 1972, the Executive Council ,
767-597: The Tai Po District , such as the northern Sai Kung Peninsula belonged to other OZPs of the board. It was reported that the area of the modern day Tai Wo Estate , was originally planned for industrial use. However, the plan was scrapped in 1983. The new town currently has a public auditorium and theatre, Tai Po Civic Centre, which was opened in 1985 on On Pong Road, next to private housing estate of Tai Po Centre [ zh ] . A larger facility, Tai Po Town Hall ( 大埔大會堂 ), which could compare to Sha Tin Town Hall ,
826-438: The de facto cabinet of the Hong Kong colonial government, had approved a 10-year housing plan, which included a proposed expansion of Tai Po, Fanling–Sheung Shui-Shek Wu Hui and Yuen Long as new towns. In 1976, Tai Po New Town project was formally announced. Differing from Luk Heung San Tsuen, which was a relocation of rural population to the rural town centre, the new town project was to be an influx of urban population from
885-466: The slums of nearby Ngau Tau Kok . Thus, in the late 1950s, Kwun Tong became the first developed satellite town. Around the same time, the government also began to develop Tsuen Wan as a satellite town. In 1967, using a similar concept on a smaller scale, it also built Wah Fu Estate , which lay to the west of Aberdeen in Pok Fu Lam , in a remote corner on the southern side of Hong Kong Island. In
944-464: The 1950s to accommodate Hong Kong's booming population . During the first phase of development, the newly developed towns were called " satellite towns ", a concept borrowed from the United Kingdom , of which Hong Kong was a colony . Kwun Tong , located in eastern Kowloon , and Tsuen Wan , located in the south-west of the New Territories , were designated as the first satellite towns, when
1003-621: 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 Second World War , however, the population boomed. The drastic growth was due to prolonged political unrest in Mainland China , which brought a large number of refugees to Hong Kong from the 1950s to the early 1970s and led to
1062-488: The 1970s to build New Towns in other areas as well. As part of this second phase, the development of Tai Po New Town , Yuen Long New Town and Fanling-Sheung Shui New Town began in 1976, 1977 and 1978 respectively; the extension of the Tsuen Wan New Town to Tsing Yi Town also began in the mid-1970s, and was regarded as part of the second phase of new-town development. The third phase of new-town development
1121-603: 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 將軍澳工業邨). 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 and Sha Tin New Town, one can find shopping centres, public libraries, theatres, government offices, parks, and bus terminuses. Any new town with
1180-624: 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 . The proposals are matters of heated public debate; if
1239-745: 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
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#17327867955581298-400: 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
1357-582: The Task Force on Land Supply," including using reclamation as a mean to obtain new lands for development. However, it was also announced that the reclamation plan in Ma Liu Shui in Tolo Harbour was postponed, despite its inclusion in the recommendations by the Task Force. Thus, it is uncertain that the reclamations in the water of Tolo Harbour will go ahead or not. New towns of Hong Kong The Hong Kong government started developing new towns in
1416-743: The area was known as "Tai Po Outline Zoning Plan" (Tai Po OZP). The zoning plan roughly covered the Tai Po New Town (including Tai Po Industrial Estate ), as well as Tai Po Market and Tai Po Old Market. The zoning plan also covered some of the indigenous villages of Tai Po District , but indigenous villages on the Lam Tsuen Valley , were regulated by Lam Tsuen Outline Zoning Plan instead. The aforementioned science park and surrounding residential area in Pak Shek Kok , had its own OZP: Pak Shek Kok (East) Outline Zoning Plan. Other areas of
1475-538: 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: 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
1534-616: The compensation for villages that were suffered from the construction of the Plover Cove Reservoir ( 船灣淡水湖 ; 'boat bay fresh water lake'), whose farmland would be under water after the construction of the reservoir. Despite that, those buildings are now much older than other buildings of the new town, and make up the Tai Po District Council Election Constituency of Tai Po Hui . The area could traced back to its origins in
1593-462: The entire new town had been built; the estimated population in Sha Tin rose to 500,000 in the planning of the early 1970s. 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
1652-558: The existing indigenous villages that located on the Lam Tsuen Valley as well as west of those villages in Ting Kok and Tai Mei Tuk and south of those villages in Nam Hang, Fung Yuen and Sha Lo Tung . Most of the lands of the new town were obtained by land reclamation. In the present day, Tai Po New Town is simply known as Tai Po . The new town is largely covered by the government Tai Po Outline Zoning Plan , which legally regulates
1711-564: The existing built-up area of the city. In 1980, the first public rental housing estate of the new town, Tai Yuen Estate , was completed. It was followed by Fu Heng Estate , Fu Shin Estate , Kwong Fuk Estate , Tai Wo Estate and Wan Tau Tong Estate (in alphabetical order); Po Heung Estate is currently the latest public rental housing estate of Tai Po in the Tai Po Market area as a re-development project of existing public facility of
1770-470: The former site of Tai Po Hui), traditional market towns that served both rural villages of Tang clan Tai Po branch and non-Tang's village alliance Tai Po Tsat Yeuk (literally Tai Po Seven Alliances ) as well as people by water route from Ma On Shan and other places. The market towns were established in the Qing dynasty . After the concession of the area now known as the New Territories and New Kowloon to
1829-459: 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 and Tuen Mun New Town . These new towns were intended to accommodate a few hundred thousand people each. For example, according to the first plan in 1961, the government planned to accommodate 360,000 people in Sha Tin once
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1888-459: The land use of the area, on top of the terms in the land lease contract with the government. Some of the land lease within the area, were known as Tai Po Town Lot № foo . In elections, the town has a different zoning scheme for the election constituencies. The new town was designed to be expanded from and incorporate the previously existing areas of Tai Po Market (Tai Po Hui; formerly known as Tai Wo Shi) and Tai Po Old Market (Tai Po Kau Hui,
1947-478: 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. Kwun Tong, as the first satellite town, was not considered as a new town, as it was part of Kowloon and regarded by
2006-603: The new town. According to the Civil Engineering and Development Department of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Science Park in Pak Shek Kok , was also within the scope of Tai Po New Town. However, in later document, the new town project was renamed to "Tai Po New Town and Pak Shek Kok Development". Pak Shek Kok is currently served by the University station of MTR. In the Town Planning Board of Hong Kong,
2065-474: The new town. The new town was a planned area , which had "suitable sites have been reserved for various types of land-uses including residential, commercial, industrial and open space, and for the provision of different types of community and infrastructural facilities to meet the needs of the population." The new town was divided between residential and industrial areas, with a mix of public and private housing. The Tai Po Industrial Estate southwest of Ting Kok
2124-433: 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
2183-603: 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 . The British government had developed new towns in the United Kingdom to help relocate displaced populations after the Second World War . This experience influenced the colonial Hong Kong government's development of new towns in Hong Kong. Before
2242-525: 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 ). The Kowloon–Canton Railway
2301-400: The objective that the new towns should be self-reliant. 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
2360-549: The old station building became a part of the Hong Kong Railway Museum . On 2 May the same year, the KCR was electrified to Tai Po Market; full line was electrified on 15 July 1983. The station went under a major renovation which was completed in 2008. During the renovation, it remained open though most of the retail outlets were closed. The station consists of two island platforms, with platforms 2 and 3 sharing
2419-429: The older area of Tai Po in Tai Po Market. The Government had used part of the shopping centre of Plover Cove Garden as the temporary site of the public library for more than a decade. In 2016, the government propose building Tai Po Sports Centre, Tai Po Community Hall and two 7-a-side football fields, on the existing planned site of Tai Po Town Hall. In 2012, Hong Kong government proposed 25 new land reclamation sites in
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2478-433: The one hand, the government began to provide public housing, and on the other hand it proposed to develop “satellite towns” in undeveloped areas in order to make more lands available for the increasing housing need. At first, it identified Tsuen Wan and Kwai Chung as sites for the first satellite towns, but it then found that Kwun Tong , located in then-underdeveloped eastern Kowloon, would be attractive to people living in
2537-595: The only links to Kowloon, the traffic between these new towns and the urban area was highly congested, prompting the government to study new road and rail links. The situation improved when Tai Lam Tunnel opened in 1998. These new towns in the north-western New Territories were finally connected to urban areas with direct railway service when KCR West Rail (now part of the Tuen Ma Line ) opened in 2003. New towns’ residential areas have both private and public housing. When new towns were first developed, land reclamation
2596-544: The project. Our Hong Kong Foundation , a pro-government think tank, had employed Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies [ zh ] of the Chinese University of Hong Kong to conduct a survey. The survey shown 45.3% agreed reclamation outside the Victoria Harbour , while 33.9% against. In February 2019, the government announced that "it has fully accepted the recommendations tendered by
2655-484: The proposals are adopted, construction work is expected to begin in the mid-2010s, and its first phase to end in the early 2020s. 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. It planned all new towns carefully, with
2714-479: The public museums of Tai Po District. In terms of road transport, Tolo Highway was completed in the 1980s, which largely replaced Tai Po Road as the main road between the new town and city centre. One of the earliest development of the present day Tai Po new town, were multi-storied estates on newly reclaimed land on Kwong Fuk Road [ zh ] circa the 1960s to 1970s. The housing estates, known as Luk Heung San Tsuen [ zh ] were served as
2773-487: The rapid advance of Hong Kong's economy from the 1970s to the early 1990s. The government in the 1950s originally had no plans to deal with the problem of housing the increasing population, until the Shek Kip Mei Fire in 1953 destroyed the homes of 58,203 people in a shanty town . The government, for the first time, built public housing to accommodate the victims and found a change in housing policy essential. On
2832-614: The residence of the District Officer . The market towns received expansion in the 1960s, due to the relocation of indigenous villages to the newly reclaimed land next to the Tai Po Market, as well as the construction of Tai Po Industrial Estate which started in 1974. From 1976, [ sic ] extensive reclamation work was carried out near the mouth of the Lam Tsuen River in Tolo Harbour (or known as Tai Po Hoi, literally Tai Po Sea ) in order to create land for
2891-439: The same centre track. This centre track serves as the terminus of some trains during the day, and the departure of some extra trains southbound during morning peak hours. Northbound trains that arrive here after 11 p.m. use the centre track instead, as Platform 1 is reserved for late night trains that terminate at Tai Po Market instead of continuing towards Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau. Bus and public light bus services are available for
2950-612: The same track and is reserved for peak hour traffic. Between 1913 and 1982, the old Tai Po Market station located within the Tai Po Market proper served the passengers of Tai Po. The old station is a 10-minute walk from the current one. During the electrification of the Kowloon–Canton Railway (British Section) (now known as the East Rail line), the station was relocated to the current location on 7 April 1983, while
3009-441: The traditional market town. The establishment of Tai Wo Estate and Tai Wo station, also shifted the area that corresponded to the name Tai Wo , from Tai Po Market (was established as Tai Wo Shi ; at the time of establishment, Tai Po Old Market was known as Tai Po Market) to the area around Tai Wo Estate. The new town also composed of many private housing estates, as well as public-private housing estates that were subsidized under
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#17327867955583068-403: The urban area in Hong Kong was still relatively small, restricted to the central and western parts of Kowloon Peninsula and the northern side of Hong Kong Island . Wah Fu Estate was also built in a remote corner on the southern side of Hong Kong Island, with similar concepts but at a smaller scale. Plans to develop new areas were continued in the late 1960s and 1970s, when the name “new town”
3127-516: 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. Tai Po Market station Tai Po Market ( Chinese : 大埔墟 ; Cantonese Yale : Daaih bou hēui ; pronounced : [taj˨pɔw˧.hɵɥ˥] )
3186-418: 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 Light Rail Transit , although at the time they remained the only new towns without direct railway service to the urban areas. Because there was no railway transport, and Tuen Mun Road and Castle Peak Road were
3245-694: Was founded in 1984 and folded in 2014. As of 2018, there were 19 secondary schools in the whole Tai Po District , all within the Tai Po New Town. Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital , was relocated to Tai Po New Town in 1997. The town was previously served by the Prince of Wales Hospital in the Sha Tin District before its relocation. In 1997, the Hong Kong Institute of Education , a tertiary public school, moved to its new Tai Po campus. Both facilities were built on existing hilly area of
3304-542: 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
3363-420: Was planned in the new town, east of private housing estate Plover Cove Garden ( 寶湖花園 ). However, the construction of such a facility was scrapped or postponed indefinitely. Another facility, Tai Po Public Library, was separated from the planned town hall, and incorporated into Tai Po Complex [ zh ] , a new government building that was completed in 2004. The complex was a re-development project within
3422-406: Was proposed in the 1980s, including Tseung Kwan O New Town , Tin Shui Wai New Town and Ma On Shan , the last of which was officially considered as an extension of Sha Tin New Town. The fourth phase of new-town development, so far the last, commenced in 1996 and developed North Lantau New Town (only Tung Chung was developed, although originally the plan included the area near Tai Ho Wan ), as
3481-401: Was served by two new railway stations (now part of the mass transit system of the city), new Tai Po Market station and Tai Wo station respectively. The already existing Tai Po Kau and old Tai Po Market railway stations , however, were closed in 1983. The latter which had previously served the traditional market town Tai Po Market ( Tai Wo Shi ), became the Hong Kong Railway Museum , one of
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