Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate was a 7-block

public housing estate Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

built on

reclaimed land Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lak ...

Ngau Tau Kok Ngau Tau Kok is an area of eastern Kowloon in Hong Kong, in the north of Kwun Tong District east to Kowloon Bay. Largely residential, Ngau Tau Kok has a population in excess of 210,000. Geography In Chinese, Ngau Tau Kok means ''ox horn'' ...

Kwun Tong Kwun Tong is an area in the Kwun Tong District of Hong Kong, situated at the eastern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, and its boundary stretches from Lion Rock in the north to Lei Yue Mun in the south, and from the winding paths of Kowloon ...

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...

, Hong Kong, located opposite

Kowloon Bay station Kowloon Bay is a station on the Hong Kong MTR . It is located between and stations in Kowloon East. The station was opened in 1979. Kowloon Bay station is one of the five MTR stations on the Kwun Tong line located above ground level, and on ...

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 formerly Ngau Tau Kok Village. It was built in the 1967 to 1969 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.Hong Kong Housing Authority - Historical Background of Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate
/ref> Year of intake for Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate was 1967.
/ref> It has six streets that surround the estate. 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.

Gallery pre-reconstruction

File:NTK THIRD ST.jpg, Block 6 (May 2005) File:OVERVIEW LNTKE FROM TELFORD 2007.jpg, Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate in 2007. File:Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate Block8.jpg, Block 8 in January 2009. File:Lower Ngau Tau Kok BK89 2008.jpg, Block 89 in March 2010. File:Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate Block10.jpg, Block 10 in January 2009. File:Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate Block12.jpg, Block 12 in January 2009. File:Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate Block13.jpg, Block 13 in January 2009. File:UNTK CWR.JPG, Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate, as viewed from

Jordan Valley The Jordan Valley ( ar, غور الأردن, ''Ghor al-Urdun''; he, עֵמֶק הַיַרְדֵּן, ''Emek HaYarden'') forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to ...

File:Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate Open Space.jpg, Park in Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate. File:Lower NTKE2.JPG, Lift between the ground floor and the 13th floor, in 2009 File:Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate Block 9 Corridor.jpg, On the corridor of Block 9 in December 2008. File:NEW NTKST NTKRENT pk.JPG, Stores on ground floor of Block 10 in November 2008. File:Lower Ngau Tau Kok EST plaqueII.jpg, Plaque, August 2008 File:牛頭角下邨 (二區) 清拆 Notice.JPG, Redevelopment notice sign

Features

Lower Ngau Tau Kok (II) Estate comprised 5,400 flats in seven Mark V resettlement blocks. Apartment sizes ranged from 8.2m² to 39.4 m². 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. Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate was also known for its dai pai dongs and

cha chaan teng ''Cha chaan teng'' (; "tea restaurant"), often called a Hong Kong-style cafe or diner in English, is a type of restaurant that originated in Hong Kong. Cha chaan teng are commonly found in Hong Kong, Macau, and parts of Guangdong. Due to the w ...

s, as well as the

bazaar A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, suc ...

s 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.

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. 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 were completed in 2012. Part of the site of the former estate will also be used for the construction of the

East Kowloon Cultural Centre The East Kowloon Cultural Centre is an under construction arts complex in Ngau Tau Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It will be located on part of the former site of Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate, directly across Kwun Tong Road from Kowloon Bay station. It ...

, slated to open in 2021. In June 2000, 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 low rent or free apartments to qualified residents. The existence o ...

launched the final phase of

Comprehensive Planning Comprehensive planning is an ordered process that determines community goals and aspirations in terms of community development. The end product is called a comprehensive plan, also known as a general plan, or master plan. This resulting document e ...

Gallery during reconstruction

File:Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate Redevelopment Site 200811.jpg, Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate Redevelopment Site in November 2008. File:REDEVE_LOWER_NGAU_TAU_EST_P1_2009.JPG, First phase in progress in December 2009. File:NEW DEVE LNTKE FROM AMOY 1006.jpg, First phase in progress in June 2010, as viewed from

Amoy Gardens Amoy Gardens () is a private housing estate in the Jordan Valley area of Kowloon, Hong Kong completed from 1981 to 1987.Kwun Tong Road Kwun Tong Road () is a major thoroughfare in Kwun Tong District, New Kowloon, Hong Kong. Location Kwun Tong Road starts at the junction with Prince Edward Road East, Clear Water Bay Road and Lung Cheung Road in Ngau Chi Wan. It runs along the c ...

. File:Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate Redevelopment Site 201009.jpg, Reconstruction in progress in September 2010. File:GENERAL VW NDLNTK FROMJV 201102.jpg, Reconstruction in progress in February 2011. File:Lower and Upper Ngau Tau Kok Estate.jpg, Reconstruction in progress in November 2011.

Education

Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 46. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money); no government primary schools are in this net.

Notable residents

Lee Wai Sze Sarah Lee Wai-sze, BBS, MH (; born 12 May 1987) is a Hong Kong professional track cyclist. Her greatest success to date is winning the bronze medal in the women's keirin at the 2012 London Olympics, Hong Kong's third- ever Olympic medal and ...

, Hong Kong track cyclist, Silver medalist in 2012 London Olympics.

References

External links

Exhibition website: "Dine at Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate - Farewell to the Last Resettlement Public Rental Housing Exhibition"

''HK Magazine'' article: "Executors of the Estate", March 13th, 2009

* ttp://ntk.johnchoy.com A photo record of LNTK by photographer John Choy {{Public housing estates in Hong Kong Public housing estates in Hong Kong Ngau Tau Kok