One of Hong Kong’s most Instagrammable spots — the Choi Hung estate — will reportedly be redeveloped by the city’s Housing Authority. The public housing estate in Wong Tai Sin, famed for its rainbow-hued blocks, is one of the oldest in the city and is home to more than 7,400 households. According to a report in the South China Morning Post, an announcement about the proposed redevelopment will be made at the end of the year.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said that the government will “speed up redevelopment… of aged buildings” in his second policy address, which he revealed last month. Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin has also said that authorities are working in 10 redevelopment projects, which will involve demolishing 17,000 residential flats.
“We will review different old public housing estates. We’re currently reviewing these housing estates and if we have any news on redevelopment projects, we will announce them in due course,” Ho said during a meeting of the housing panel on Monday.
The residents of the estate will reportedly have to move to the yet-to-be completed housing project at Wang Chiu Road, which will have 4,100 homes when work on it is finished in 2025-2026. There will also be an additional 2,900 flats after redevelopment work on the Mei Tung Estate is complete in 2027-2028.
Choi Hung Estate, which was built between 1962 and 1964, comprises 11 blocks that are between seven and 20 stories high, making it the largest such project at the time. The name of the estate means “rainbow”, and it is a favourite spot among photographers and tourists, who flock to there to get images of its unique rainbow-hued blocks.
The estate is so iconic that the pillars on the Choi Hung MTR station are also painted in rainbow colours. Choi Hung estate was also featured in Popular K-pop boyband Seventeen’s music video for their song Check-In, most notably the basketball court at the carpark rooftop, which is the estate’s most popular photo spot.
Header image credits: Adam More via WikiCommons
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