Mei Ho House 美荷樓
In 1953 there was a huge fire that ravaged a squatter settlement in Shep Kip Mei. It destroyed forty-five acres of squatters and left fifty thousand people became homeless. After that, the first resettlement area are built, and Mei Ho House was one of the first resettlement buildings and the only one that remains until nowadays. Moreover, the building was rated as "Grade II historic buildings in Hong Kong" Later, through the "building revitalization plan", based on the characteristics of the "H"-shaped building, Mei Ho House was transformed into a youth hotel and a museum. Now people can visit the Heritage of Mei Ho House and have a chance to know the living style back then and to experience the living conditions of the residents at that time.
Tai Hang Sai Estate 大坑西邨
Tai Hang Sai Estate is a private rental housing estate. It is constructed and managed by the Hong Kong Settlers Housing Corporation Limited ("HKSHCL"), which is a non-profit-making organization. - consists of 8 residential buildings which were built in 1965 and 1977 respectively. Aims: - let 1603 flats out at rents below market levels to tenants on low incomes- to rehouse tenants affected by clearance of the then Tai Hang Sai Resettlement AreaCharacteristics:Although it is rental housing, it was developed by a privately owned company, unlike other public housing estates which are built and managed by either Hong Kong Housing Authority or Hong Kong Housing Society.Privatisation of renting housing (low-cost housing as state welfare)NGOs: developing the housing estate targeted for the low-income groups
Nam Shan Estate 南山邨
Nam Shan Estate is a Hong Kong public hosing estate in Shek Kip Mei. located near Tai Hang Tung Estate and Yau Yat Tsuen. Built in 1975, having 5.25 hectares.It was original a squatter area from 1949 to 1953. That is the time after the second world war, coming with Chinese civil war, causing a large number of refugees to flow into Hong Kong. But the Hong Kong gavernment did not provide any public housing plan at that time, because of the principle of free trade. so the refugees built squatters on the fringes of urban areas and on the edge of mountains.But the squatter areas are very crowded, with poor sanitation. Fire accidents are very frequent. Until 25 December 1953, Shek Kip Mei fire accident detroyed nearly 50,000 people's home. Then the British government realised squatter is the problem. So they changed the housing policy and built public housing to the rehouse residents of the fire accident. Nam Shan Estate is one of the public house built after the Shek Kip Mei fire accident. And the design of their children playground has become one of the signature view of Nam Shan Estate.When Hong Kong became densely populated after second world war, housing problem is a continuous concern. In 2020-2021, Federation of Public Housing Estates urge Hong Kong government to rebuilt Nam Shan Estate into modern public house which can live more people, in order to help the housing problem in Hong Kong
