The Annual Report 2010/11 of the Housing Authority (HA) was presented a Bronze Award in the category of "Non-profit Organisation: Housing" in the 26th International Annual Report Competition (ARC) Awards, organised by the New York based MerComm, Inc.

Competition of the award was intense this year with a record-breaking 2 200 entries from 32 countries around the world. With the theme “Public Housing: a Cornerstone of Hong Kong’s Success”, the award-winning HA Annual Report reaffirms the role of public housing in Hong Kong’s economic and social development. Echoing the theme of “cornerstone”, the design of the publication features various stone walls in public housing estates. The Report can be viewed on the Housing Authority / Housing Department Website

The Housing Authority (HA) spares no effort to boost fire safety awareness among public housing tenants. To that purpose, we have been organising fire drills and various publicity events in public rental housing (PRH) estates.

A recently completed event in this regard is our annual Estate Fire Safety Quiz. The quiz received overwhelming response this year, with a record-breaking number of over 16 000 entries. Prize winners were drawn at a ceremony held in early September at the HA’s Headquarters. We are glad to note that some of the returns were submitted by tenants from ethnic minority groups, and that 90% of the entry forms drawn out have correct answers to all the questions. The winners’ list and answers to the quiz are now available on our Estate Fire Safety Campaign mini-website.

Besides the quiz, we have started to launch this year’s Estate Fire Safety Campaign in various PRH estates. We are also arranging the Mobile Publicity Unit and the Fire Safety Education Bus of the Fire Services Department (FSD) to visit different estates. Tenants who wish to learn more about and assist in promoting fire safety are welcome to join the Estate Fire Safety Ambassadors Scheme co-organised by the HA and the FSD. Application form can be downloaded from the above-mentioned mini-website.

Established in 1984, the Land Surveying Unit (LSU) of the Housing Department provides professional land surveying and Geographical Information System services in support of the development, construction, maintenance and management of public housing estates. Let’s see how land surveying technologies and equipment have evolved in recent decades.

Until the 1970s, land surveyors used plane tables and steel tapes for mapping, a rather time-consuming process. Nowadays, the new “Total Station” installed with a Global Positioning System (GPS) allows land surveyors to obtain data more reliably and accurately.

Land surveys are imperative to effective planning and design of public housing estates. Yiu Tung Estate in Shau Kei Wan is a vivid example. It was built on the site of a former squatter area known as Tsin Shui Ma Tau Village that was cleared in the late 1980s. Thanks to the joint efforts of the land surveying teams and other professional teams, it has been built into a modern public housing estate with an excellent setting and extensive community facilities. Interestingly, those who carried out the land surveys to facilitate site formation and construction of the estate sometimes had to work inside an old air-raid shelter beneath the site! The equipment they used then was still the traditional version.

The new generation of surveying equipment came into use at the turn of the New Millennium. During the development of the Tseung Kwan O 73B site (now Kin Ming Estate) in 1999, the LSU applied the GPS, the latest technology at that time, to establish a surveying control network for the site and nearby areas.

Land surveyors are usually trail-blazers, coming in at the initial stages of every development project. For example, before redevelopment work for Blocks 14 and 15 of Chai Wan Estate began, land survey teams had to conduct topographic surveys of the steep and densely forested slopes in the vicinity, in order to provide the project team with essential information about the terrain. All this was conducted under the scorching summer sun.

Earlier this year, the LSU further introduced advanced technologies that included Airborne LiDAR Data and a 3D Spatial Data Viewer. These technologies mean that surveyors no longer need to work in hazardous conditions, and can easily obtain the ground profile data required by the project team. Besides helping to speed up the delivery of services to other professionals, this also improves safety for the surveyors themselves.

Currently, various cutting edge survey technologies are being used in surveys for public housing projects and even tree management. For instance, the LSU has used the Mobile Mapping System Survey to measure the positions and dimensions of trees, and the 3D Laser Scanning Survey to capture the profile of So Uk Estate for future generations to look back on. Not only do these activities contribute to conserving our heritage, they also bear witness to generational changes over time.