History
Yuen Long Town was a traditional market town in the area also known as Yuen Long San Hui in present-day, within the Yuen Long District in the New Territories. The market town and the adjacent areas (Long Ping Estate, Yuen Long Industrial Estate, Tong Tau Industrial Area, YOHO Town, etc.) have developed into the Yuen Long New Town in the 1970s and early 1980s. (See Yuen Long Town for more details.)
The Hong Kong Government first put Yuen Long New Town on the list of new towns in 1972 and planned several large-scale housing estates. The first development started in 1974. In 1978, Yuen Long New Town was put on the list of second generation new towns. It served as a secondary administrative centre.
Although the new town started in the 1970s, it was developed much more slowly compared to the other new towns due to its long distance from urban Kowloon. Commuters needed to travel via other areas like Tuen Mun or Shek Kong with no rail transport. With the rapid development of an adjacent new town, Tin Shui Wai New Town, in the 1980s, the road network was drastically improved by the late 1990s. It was not until late 2003 that the West Rail Line was completed. These improvements spurred new waves of town development in the 2000s.
Read more about this topic: Yuen Long New Town
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