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building on top of Kai Tak

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Dominicinco

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Joined
Jun 9, 2003
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New development will occupy the space where the one of the world's most (in)famous airport once stood in Hong Kong - Kai Tak International Airport.

Details here

click camera icon below pictures.

Development
Oasis in the city: Kai Tak
Kai Tak Airport, the world's busiest in terms of passengers and cargo throughput, retired from the hustle and bustle of the city after 73 years of service at midnight on July 6, 1998, when the last passenger flight, bound for Heathrow in London, took off.



Five years later, as the Hong Kong International Airport on Chek Lap Kok celebrates its fifth birthday, Kai Tak and the vicinity is preparing for a facelift.





Paradise found: On the drawing board are a 24-hectare metropolitan park, a 5-km long waterfront promenade, and a tourism node-cum-cruise pier are the key features of the city's new oasis: Kai Tak.




With the help of the Territory Development Department, Kai Tak - the unique piece of land that housed Hong Kong's first airport - will be transformed from a city of concrete to an oasis in 15 years.



The development, with an area of 413 hectares, will be the ideal home for 250,000 people and offer 75,000 jobs.



A better living place for 21st century

Director of Territory Development Wong Hung-kin said the South East Kowloon Development is a massive and complicated development with a wide array of facilities.



"This is an integrated development. As it is the last piece of land in the urban area, we have put a lot of emphasis on the best kind of planning that we can provide," he told news.gov.hk.



The blueprint emerged in mid-2001 and won the Executive Council's endorsement last year. It aims to provide a better living place for the 21st century.



Most diversified development in town

It will incorporate the most modern planning and urban development concepts, such as environmental-friendliness, people-oriented planning, a scenic and accessible waterfront, a magnet for tourism revenue, and a home for leisure and entertainment attractions.



Mr Wong explained: "Within the development there is a variety of facilities. Apart from housing, there will be other leisure facilities, such as a metropolitan park, a world-class stadium, a tourism node and a cruise terminal."



It will also be supported by a full range of community facilities, including a hospital and school villages.



More new green initiatives adopted

A railway system will form the backbone of public transport to and from the development which is conveniently located on the existing MTR Kwun Tong line and the planned Sha Tin-to-Central Rail Link.



The railway network will be supplemented by an enviromentally friendly shuttle system, such as light rail or trolley buses, to connect all internal district centres.



Other green initiatives, such as an automated refuse collection system, a district cooling scheme for air-conditioning, and solar energy systems will also be implemented.



Design approach: people-oriented

Mr Wong noted that the metropolitan park, with an area of 24 hectares, will be the largest in an urban area, seven hectares bigger than Victoria Park.



Pedestrianisation will be another key green initiative, he said. People will be able to walk freely along pedestrian corridors, parks, elevated walkways and landscape decks without the fear of vehicles.



The Planning Department is drawing up detailed urban design and landscape guidelines for spatial corrdiors and open spaces.



Promenade design may open to competition

A five-kilometre long waterfront boulevard will also be built linking Lei Yue Mun in the east and Tsim Sha Tsui in the west.



Mr Wong said: "The promenade will arouse a lot of interest from architects and the international community. We have a preliminary idea of putting it out in a competition so as to arouse more interest in the development."



Apart from the metropolitan park, it will also link with the tourism node.



"There will be a wide range of facilities. We want to attract not only local people, but also tourists. That is why the tourism node and the cruise terminal will be a key feature in this development."



Kai Tak Point a magnet for tourism

The node, also known as Kai Tak Point, will measure about 20 hectares. A number of tourism-related facilities will be developed, including a cruise terminal, heliport, hotel, entertaininment/retail/dining centre, aviation museum, IMAX threatre, a children's discovery centre and a carnival park.



Swimming pools, indoor games halls and a 50,000-seat world-class stadium capable of hosting a wide variety of sporting, leisure and entertainment events are also planned.



The modern city will bear relics of Hong Kong's history, too. Sun Wong Toi Inscription Rock and Fishtail Rock will be preserved in the green town.



Mr Wong said: "We now proceed in full speed with the first stage of development. Piling works by the Housing Department are underway and infrastructural projects will follow next year."



It will cost about $24 billion, and create about 16,000 jobs during the construction period, he added.
 

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