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The similarities between the plans are uncanny. The tadpole-
shaped NDAs of Kwu Tong North and Fanling North encompass virtually
the same plots of land are present in both the old study in 1999 and the
new study in 2014. The areas of Ping Che / Ta Kwu Ling to the north-east
and Hung Shui Kiu to the south-west that were advocated in the older
plans likewise correspond to the same areas of study in the newer plans
re-tabled more than 15 years later.

The comparability of the old and the new is not restricted within
areas of north-eastern and north-western New Territories. Development
plans for the Tung Chung area of Lantau Island and the site of the former
airport in Kai Tak that are currently in process were tabled almost two
decades ago. However, for the case of Kai Tak a major revision was made
in which plans to reclaim land were permanently shelved after strong
public opposition and the establishment of the Protection of the Harbour
Ordinance which prohibited land reclamation to all areas of Victoria Harbour
in 1999.

Additionally, the quantity of planned housing units and population
intake parallels each other nearly number by number, with the exception
of the Kai Tak NDA (see Table 7). The combined population intake for Kwu
Tong North and Fanling North in the 1999 Planning and Development
Studies on North East and North West New Territories was 180,000. In
comparison, according to the paper tabled by the government at the
Legislative Council Panel on Development in January 2016, it was estimated
that a total of 60,000 flats will be produced in Kwu Tong North and Fanling
North, which implies a population intake of exactly 180,000 as envisaged in
the previous plan made in 1999, assuming an average household size of
three.

The old and the new projections of the Hung Shui Kiu NDA, Kai Tak
development, and Tung Chung extension plans are also very similar. For
instance, the proposed population in Hong Shui Kiu in the 1999 plan was
160,000, whereas the corresponding estimate in the 2016 plan would be
180,300, assuming again an average household size of three.

The exception is Kai Tak. Whilst the Comprehensive Feasibility
Study for the Revised Scheme of South East Kowloon Development in
2001 envisaged a population north of 210,000. As of January 2016, the total
planned units in the Kai Tak NDA was only 41,000 flats. Multiplying this by
three leads to 123,000, about half of its 2001 counterpart.

Finally, it was envisaged in the Final Executive Report of the TDSR
in 1998 that by 2011, the Tung Chung-Tai Ho area would have 95,000 flats
built for a population of 274,000. By the end of 2015 the number of flats built
in the area was around 30,000. The Tung Chung New Town Extension Study
in 2014 plans for 49,400 flats to be built. Seemingly the new plan, allowing
for slight revisions, is merely the construction of the remaining unbuilt
flats from the original target of 95,000 as advocated by the Final Executive
Report of the TDSR nearly two decades ago.

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