The Resettlement Department () was a department of the

Government of Hong Kong The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the handover of Hong Kong. ...

, responsible for constructing resettlement estates for homeless refugees, established in 1954. In 1973, the Resettlement Department and the Building Section of the Urban Services Department were merged to form the Housing Department, which acts as the

Housing Authority A housing authority or ministry of housing is generally a governmental body that governs aspects of housing or (called in general " shelter" or "living spaces"), often providing subsidies and low rent or free public housing to qualified people. ...

's executive body.

History

In December 1953, a major fire destroyed the slum area in Shek Kip Mei and more than 50,000 refugees from

Mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

were made homeless. After the disaster, then Governor Sir Alexander Grantham ordered

Ronald Holmes Sir David Ronald Holmes (, 26 December 1913 – 14 June 1981) was a British colonial government official who served in Hong Kong from 1938. In the Second World War, he was assigned to the British Army Aid Group where he actively took part ...

to establish the Resettlement Department and appointed him as the Deputy Colonial Secretary and the first Commissioner of Resettlement. The Resettlement Department was formed from sections of the

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

, the

Social Welfare Department The Social Welfare Department () is a department of the Hong Kong Government responsible for providing welfare services to the community. Responsibilities The department provides services to families and children, the elderly, recovering crimin ...

, and the Urban Services Department. The development of public housing marked a radical shift from the

laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( , from , ) is a type of economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies or regulations). As a system of thought, ''laissez-faire'' ...

philosophy of the Government. In order to resettle the homeless refugees in a short period of time, Holmes took the lead to construct a number of resettlement estates on the burnt ground in Shek Kip Mei and in its neighboring area. Some of the notable examples included

Shek Kip Mei Estate Shek Kip Mei Estate is the first public housing estate in Hong Kong. It is located in Sham Shui Po and is under the management of the Hong Kong Housing Authority. The estate was constructed as a result of a fire in Shek Kip Mei in 1953, to se ...

and

Tai Hang Tung Estate Tai Hang Tung Estate () is a Public housing in Hong Kong, public housing estate in Kowloon Tong, Sham Shui Po District, Kowloon, Hong Kong, located near the Tai Hang Sai Estate, Tai Hang Sai and Nam Shan Estates as well as Shek Kip Mei station. ...

.〈何禮文爵士在希病世〉，《工商日報》第八頁，1981年6月16日。 After the creation of the Resettlement Department, constructing

public housing estate Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

for resettling the poor people became one of the primary policy goals set by the government in postwar Hong Kong. In October 1955, when he succeeded the retired Harold Giles Richards as the Director of Urban Services, Ronald Holmes stepped down from the Resettlement Department and was succeeded by

Arthur Walton Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

as Commissioner of Resettlement. The Resettlement Department built a total of 25 housing estates between 1954 and 1973. The ten-year public housing programme proposed by Governor Sir Murray MacLehose led to the need for a "corporatized housing authority." The establishment of the Housing Department inherited and expanded the projects and plans of the Resettlement Department.

History

See also

References

Further reading