History and Geography
The land on which Tin Shui Wai was built did not exist at the beginning of the 1900s, while the adjacent Ping Shan was by the sea. The water north of Ping Shan gradually turned to marshes and villagers converted it into pools and rice paddies. The pools became gei wai fish ponds where most of the residents were fishermen before the new town was developed. With the decline in aquaculture, most of the fish ponds were abandoned. The Hong Kong Government developed the area into a new town by land reclamation.
The development of Tin Shui Wai New Town began in 1987. A total area of about 430 hectares of land was formed by reclamation of the low-lying areas. The Development Zone of 220 hectares, located in the southern part of the new town, has been developed to house about 200,000 people, complete with all infrastructure works and a full range of community facilities. An LRT line and new roads linking the new town to the trunk road network provide good communication with the Yuen Long and Tuen Mun districts and to the urban areas beyond.
Further expansion of the new town into the remaining areas to the north, known as the Reserve Zone, with an area of 210 hectares, commenced in July 1998. The infrastructure was completed in stages from 2000 to 2004 to cope with population intake of the housing developments. West Rail and the extension of the LRT service to the Reserve Zone were also commissioned in late 2003. To the northeastern portion of the new town, a constructed wetland has been completed which serves as a buffer between the developments in the Reserve Zone and the Mai Po Nature Reserve. The constructed wetland has been further developed into the Hong Kong Wetland Park, opening to public in May 2006. The total planned population of Tin Shui Wai new town is about 306,000 while the current population is about 270,000.
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