Consultants will be hired to carry out a cultural heritage impact assessment before the old airport site at Kai Tak is turned into a new town, legislators were told.
Officials said the assessment was needed to investigate whether remains of the Kowloon Walled City could be salvaged from the site before it was developed.
The first people are due to move into homes built at the site in early 2003.
At the Legco planning, lands and works panel, officials said they planned to develop the site comprising Kai Tak airport and reclamation in Kowloon Bay in phases to accommodate a population of about 320,000.
Legislators were told that work on site investigations and detailed design of infrastructure had to start in January.
This would provide the supporting infrastructure to tie in with 'the very tight housing development programme' in the north apron area.
