RESETTLEMENT ESTATES(RT51)

Resettlement blocks, also known as "seven-storey buildings", are early rental public housing in Hong Kong. Their development originated from a fire in the Shek Kip Mei Muk Uk area in December 1953, and the Hong Kong government began to build simple, practical and inexpensive resettlement blocks mainly in the early development of the new towns of Kwun Tong, Kwai Chung, Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun and Yuen Long to settle the victims. The facilities in the early resettlement blocks were very simple, with only five to seven storeys, an average of 64 units per floor, and only one public toilet on each floor. For daily use of water, it was necessary to go to the water closet to "fetch water", and long queues were often found. Due to the crowded living environment, many residents put cooking cookers and utensils in the common corridors, which also become places for residents to enjoy the cool air and play games. In some resettlement blocks, schools are built on the rooftops to provide basic education for the children in the resettlement area, while the ground floor units are used as shops to meet the needs of the residents. In addition, some of the flats were equipped with rectangular ventilation windows on the external walls of the flat entrances. However, as sound and odour could easily be transmitted through the windows, every household was aware of the "traces" of their neighbours at that time.