Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate

Block 10 of Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate in 2006
Corridor inside Block 9 of Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate in 2008

Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate (Chinese: 牛頭角下邨（二區） or 牛頭角下（二）邨) was a 7-block public housing estate built on reclaimed land[1] in Ngau Tau Kok, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, located opposite Kowloon Bay Station on the MTR . The demolition of the estate started in March 2010. The estate, along with the Lower Ngau Tau Kok (I) Estate, which was demolished in June 2004, formed the Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate. A new estate, retaining the name Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate, is being constructed on the site.

The estate was often described as the last resettlement estate in Hong Kong.

History

Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate was built in the 1960s as a resettlement estate. Ngau Tau Kok Estate was split into Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate and Upper Ngau Tau Kok Estate in 1973. Blocks 8 to 12 were the first resettlement blocks in Hong Kong to be built with prefabricated parts.[2] Year of intake for Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate was 1967.[2][3] The first half of the original estate, Lower Ngau Tau Kok (I) Estate, was demolished in 2004. The demolition works of the remaining half, Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate, started in March 2010 and are being conducted by the China State Construction Engineering (Hong Kong) Limited.

Features

Lift between the ground floor and the 13th floor, in 2009

Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate comprised 5,400 flats in seven Mark V resettlement blocks.[2][3] Apartment sizes ranged from 8.2m2 to 39.4 m2.[3]

Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate was among the first group of resettlement estates built with lifts. Lifts from the ground floor could reach the 8th and the 13th floors.[2]

Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate was also known for its dai pai dongs and cha chaan tengs, as well as the bazaars and shops surrounding each block.

Final months

In the last months before its evacuation, Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate had 3,100 households and 160 commercial tenants. People living and working there complained about the nuisance created by the many people visiting the old estate before its evacuation.[4]

Memory

The Housing Authority has commissioned local photographers and video production companies to document the buildings and the life of their occupants. A cultural path will be built at the new Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate to house the relics of the old estate.[5]

Other than those commissioned by the Housing Authority, many local residents and tourists paid visits to the estate. Most of them took photos and videos in the estate, and had a meal in the estate's many restaurants.

Redevelopment

The Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate will be six blocks of housing estate which consists more than 30 storeys and the maximum height will be 46 storeys. They will be completed in 2012.

Part of the site of the former estate will also be used for the construction of the East Kowloon Cultural Centre, slated to open in 2021.

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate.

Coordinates: 22°19′18″N 114°12′56″E / 22.3218°N 114.2155°E / 22.3218; 114.2155

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