Uprooted in Kwu Tung: residents’ land attachment meets policy gap in clearance
Kwu Tung market is as empty as the village itself. This shopping area, consisting of booths of daily groceries and drysalteries, once served the surrounding villages like Yim Kong and Kam Tsin over the past four decades, now has only a few stalls left open, since the land resumption of northern development was announced in 2019.
Kwu Tung market doesn't have any traffic at midday.
Mrs Choi’s grocery shop is one of them. She has run this small unit near the entrance of the market, selling fertilisers, seeds, and fish feed, and witnessed the area changing from a busy community to a quiet one.
Due to the government’s plan to build a railway line through the Yuen Long and Northern District of New Territories, almost all of Kwu Tung is affected by land resumption. Residents who love their home have no choice but to move out.
“I have been here since I got married and moved to live with my husband in 1993. My children were all born here. I really don’t want to leave. I will continue to run my shop here. As for whether someone will take over the business, I have no idea now,” Choi said.
Choi’s grocery stall still has some regular customers.
It has not only been Choi’s family that was forced to leave their rural homes where they have lived for generations, since the Northern Link project began in September 2023. In the project, Kwu Tung is one of the planned stations.
And because the government doesn't have an option of collective settlement for removal, the original Kwu Tung will be broken apart and scattered across Hong Kong, at risk of “disappearing” due to development needs.
In a government press release last July, the first phase of construction that covers 10.7 kilometres, requires resuming 26 hectares of private land and 8.6 hectares made up of property layers such as building plots or underground rights.
These areas would revert to government ownership three months later, and compensation would be given to land owners affected.
Stations along the Nothern Link Main Line.
What is the Northern Link? The Northern Link is a major strategic railway project designed to be the transportation backbone of the Northern Metropolis. It will connect the existing East Rail Line and the Tuen Ma Line, forming a continuous railway loop in the Northern New Territories. By bridging these two lines, the project will significantly enhance connectivity between the eastern and western parts of the New Territories, making cross-district travel faster and more reliable. To further support cross-boundary integration, the project includes a 6.2km Spur Line. This branch will run from San Tin Station to the new Huanggang Port in Shenzhen, with intermediate stations at Chau Tau and The Loop (Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park). This will create Hong Kong’s third direct cross-boundary railway link, providing a convenient "co-location" arrangement for immigration clearance. The Northern Link is being built with a "fully underground alignment" to protect the local ecology and release precious surface land for housing and community facilities. MTR is also adopting innovative construction technologies, such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Modular Integrated Construction (MiC), to improve quality and efficiency. The goal is to have both the Main Line and Spur Line open to the public no later than 2034.
As demolition and relocation proceed, Kwu Tung residents have shown dissatisfaction with the government’s strict requirements and lack of care, such as the demand for over decades of address proof. They also struggle with compensation levels, resettlement options, as well as the loss of collective memory and attachment to the land.
Tang Lin-sing, the representative from the Kwu Tung Village Office, said providing the address proof is the main difficulty and complaint from villagers.
“Decades ago people may have been students in middle school. When they have to present address proof now, they cannot find their old documents. They didn’t keep school records, or some papers were lost over time,” he said.
Proof can also be in other forms, like water bills or express delivery slips from that time. “But the government insists that each resident must provide their own proof. Even if a whole family lives together, not every adult has their own electricity or water bill,” Tang added.
According to the document of how to receive compensation issued by the Lands Department, the money will be released only after residents submit the required documents, land titles are checked and confirmed to be correct, and any necessary statutory declarations are accepted by the government.
“The government has already resumed the land, but villagers cannot provide the valid proof of address required. I haven’t counted the number affected formally, while from my estimation, there are around 200 households who are still processing procedures and not yet moved out,” he said.
Tang Lin-sing helps local residents to negotiate with the government over rehousing issues.
Mr. Ling is a Kwu Tung indigenous resident, whose house is resumed. He hasn’t moved out till now because he is on the decision-making point about rehousing options.
“I was told that we would have to move as early as June, or possibly in September. Because compensation has not been settled, we are still considering arrangements for a later move,” Ling said.
“I will get a large sum of compensation for this big land. But if I apply for a public house, only ten or twenty thousand Hong Kong dollars (the exact amount depends on family size) will be given. So it is a big loss for me. If I take the compensation, I could buy into dedicated rehousing estates, which are provided to households affected by the development clearance, but some are unaffordable for a family of four. Anyway, it is hard to decide (to adopt which rehousing plan),” he added.
The government will compensate HK$12,528 per square metre, for occupiers of licensed structures and surveyed squatters in New Territories affected by clearance, according to the allowance standard of land resumption by the Department. An average family squatter is around 300 to 500 square feet, comparable to a small 2-bedroom public housing flat.
What is a squatter? Most squatter structures in Hong Kong are technically illegal. However, the government currently manages them under a "restriction" policy. Structures that were recorded during the 1982 Squatter Structure Survey are issued a survey number. While this does not grant the resident legal title or land rights, the government "tolerates" these structures, allowing them to remain until the land is required for public development or safety reasons. Squatter dwellings are often constructed from temporary materials such as wood, corrugated iron sheets, or brick. According to the Lands Department, these surveyed structures must maintain the same location, dimensions, and usage (e.g., residential or storage) as recorded in the 1982 survey. If a resident expands the structure or changes its use without permission, they risk having the "tolerated" status revoked and the structure demolished. When the government initiates projects like the Northern Link, it uses the Land Resumption Ordinance to clear these areas. Unlike legal homeowners, squatter residents do not own the land and are not entitled to the same market-value compensation. Instead, they may be eligible for "Ex-gratia Allowances" or specific rehousing schemes in public estates, provided they meet strict means-tests and residency requirements (such as having lived in a surveyed squatter hut for a certain number of years). In villages like Kwu Tung, squatter communities have existed for over 40 years. For the residents, these are not just "temporary huts" but homes where they have raised families and built deep social ties. The clearance of these areas often leads to the "uprooting" of community networks, as there is often no option for collective resettlement, forcing long-term neighbours to disperse into different high-rise public housing units.
It offers two resettlement choices for people living in these structures or in squatters like Ling’s. Residents can apply for subsidised rental or sale flats in Dedicated Estates, or Public Rental Housing after fulfilling a means test. They can also choose to arrange on their own, for example by buying, renting or emigrating.
The Department has offered a HK$25,330 domestic removal allowance for households of four to five people, which came into effect on December 1 last year. But for Ling, the amount isn’t enough to cover his loss.
Since 1964, Ling has lived in this house and yard. He once stayed in Kowloon for work for a short time, but moved back because renting for him was inconvenient.
Mr. Ling likes to grow flowers and plants in his yard.
“I will definitely feel uncomfortable living in a flat in the future. Now I am in nature, so that I can walk and cycle anywhere. Life is very free. I can play music loudly and no one will complain,” Tang said.
Niki So, indigenous resident who has lived in Kwu Tung for forty years, is also a member of the Kwu Tung North Villagers’ Alliance affected by the new development. She has been working to fight for rights and arrangements for villagers, and one of her demands is collective resettlement.
“We are not being greedy. Many residents and families still require separate homes before the final relocation deadline. Therefore, only a new public housing estate can provide enough units to rehouse everyone together as a community,” So said.
So said that these self-reliant rural communities have very close social ties. “Community ties mean neighbours looking out for one another. Once we move into public housing, this connection is broken, which is even more likely to happen without collective settlement,” she added.
“Imagine if elderly people are separated; if something happens to them, no one will know. An emergency alarm cannot solve this kind of problem. Even now, there is still no clear policy to solve this issue directly,” she said.
As So continues to lead the villagers in ongoing talks with government officials, her efforts are part of a long legacy of rural activism. However, the Ordinance states that no legal action or proceedings can be taken against the government for any loss or damage caused by land resumption.
This spirit of defending the home was largely shaped by the 2010 Choi Yuen Village movement against the Express Rail Link, which set a precedent for villager resistance in Hong Kong.
Although Choi Yuen was eventually demolished, the movement forced the government to improve compensation and offer collective rehousing, which is the same battle being fought in Kwu Tung today.
Beep Chui, an independent photographer who cares about social issues, was invited by So to visit Kwu Tung village in January, to record the scene before the village is demolished. Then she turned these images into a photo exhibition, which is open to the public for free.
Beep Chui holds a photo exhibition of Kwu Tung land resumption to inform the soceity.
“One day, Kwu Tung will be replaced by new tower blocks and building sites. So, I started recording it now. I hope to create a space for villagers and the public to talk. I want people to see what Kwu Tung is like and let the residents explain the current situation themselves,” she said.
“Photographing the village made me reflect on the meaning of home. The people of Kwu Tung are proud of what they’ve built with their own hands. They often say they built everything with their own hands, which, to me, feels like a microcosm of Hong Kong,” Chui said.
“I want to use this exhibition to bring everyone together to feel, see and leave Kwu Tung. In a way, it is a goodbye to the village, but I clearly cannot let it go. I will carry the memory of Kwu Tung with me as I move forward,” she added.
As the Northern Link project schedules, Kwu Tung railway station will be completed in 2027. At that time, passengers will be able to change between the East Rail Line and the Northern Link at the station.
However, Choi is not interested in this. “No matter how good the transport is or how much development there is, it has nothing to do with us because it doesn’t benefit us, because we are not allowed to stay,” she said.
Photo Gallery of Kwu Tung
click on each photo to view in full
