Broad Use Terms

Explanatory Notes

1. To allow greater flexibility in the use of land, broad use terms are introduced. Once planning permission is granted for a broad use, all the uses subsumed under the broad use can be interchangeable. This obviates the need for further planning application for a change of use from one type to another under the same broad use. Where necessary, the Town Planning Board may specify in the planning permission for a broad use that certain specific uses under the broad use are not permitted if such uses are considered not suitable for locating within the application site/premises.
2. For more systematic presentation and easy understanding, all broad use terms and existing use terms are categorized into 18 groups in the following table, namely, Residential Use, Commercial Use, Industrial Use, Other Special Uses and Installations, Recreation and Leisure, Education, Medical Facility, Government Use, Social/Community/Institution Use, Religious Use, Funeral Related Facility, Agricultural Use, Open Space, Conservation, Public Transport Facility, Airport Related Use, Utility Installation and Miscellaneous.
3. The first column in the table sets out all the broad use terms under the 18 groups, while the second column covers the subsumed use terms. The Remarks column mainly highlights the inclusions and exclusions of certain uses under the broad use terms. For the detailed interpretation of individual use terms, please refer to the revised "Definitions of Terms/Broad Use Terms Used in Statutory Plans".
4. A subsumed use term can be adopted as a separate use in its own right to allow for appropriate planning control to suit individual circumstances, where necessary.
5. Some industrial uses under Group III and all uses/installations under Group IV should preferably be zoned "Other Specified Uses" on statutory plans to reflect clearly the planning intention for such uses. However, they may be included in the Notes for "Industrial" and "Industrial Estate" zones to cater for existing developments and to allow greater flexibility.
6. Some use terms, such as 'Barbecue Spot', 'Caretakers' Office or Quarters', 'Environmental Improvement Works', 'Local Public Works', 'Picnic Area', 'Refreshment Kiosk', 'Rural Committee/Village Office', 'Road' and 'Tent Camping Ground', which are either small-scale uses only appearing in some specific zones or permitted uses under the covering Notes are not included here.

Broad Use Term	Subsumed Use Term(s)	Remarks
I. Residential Use
Flat	Staff Quarters; Government Staff Quarters	Also includes apartment-like service apartment
House	NTEH; Staff Quarters; Government Staff Quarters	Usually one to three storeys and includes village house, villa, bungalow, town house
Residential Institution		Includes off-campus student hostel, dormitory, youth hostel, elderly apartments
II. Commercial Use
Broadcasting, Television and/or Film Studio		Excludes small-scale audio-visual production firm which is regarded as a type of 'Office' use
Commercial Bathhouse/Massage Establishment	Commercial Bathhouse; Massage Establishment
Eating Place	Canteen; Cooked Food Centre; Restaurant	Also includes food court, tea house, pub/bar, cafeteria, coffee shop, alfresco dining facilities, private kitchen
Exhibition or Convention Hall	Trade Mart
Hotel	Holiday House	Also includes boarding house, common lodging house, guesthouse, hotel-like service apartment
Market	Hawker Centre; Hawker Bazaar	Also includes flea market
Off-course Betting Centre
Office	Audio-visual Recording Studio; Design and Media Production Office (excluding those involving direct provision of customer services or goods) ; Office Related to Industrial Use	Office (excluding those involving direct provision of customer services or goods) and Office Related to Industrial Use will appear as separate use terms in the "OU(Business)" and "I" zones respectively Also includes Government offices in commercial building
Shop and Services	Bank (including Automated Teller Machine); Barber Shop; Beauty Parlour; Clinical Laboratory; Fast Food Shop; Market; Money Exchange; Pawn Shop; Photographic Studio; Retail Shop; Service Trades; Showroom (including Motor-vehicle Showroom)	Also includes supermarket, department store, convenience store, courier service counter, health centre, medical consulting room (including medical clinic, dental clinic, physiotherapy clinic and veterinarian clinic), money lending office, securities brokerage, tourist information office, real estate agency, employment agency, travel/ticket agency
Wholesale Trade	Wholesale Centre; Wholesale Food Market
III. Industrial Use
Cargo Handling and Forwarding Facility	Cargo Handling Facility; Cargo Working Area; Container Freight Station; Logistics Centre; Freight Forwarding Services Centre	Also includes distribution centre
Cement Manufacturing
Concrete Batching Plant
Container Vehicle Park/ Container Vehicle Repair Yard
Container Storage/Repair Yard
Dangerous Goods Godown
Industrial Use	Non-polluting Industrial Use; Catering Services; Printing, Publishing and Allied Industries; Ice Making Plant; Motor-vehicle Assembly Plant; Bleaching and Dyeing Factory; Electroplating/Printed Circuit Board Manufacturing Factory; Metal Casting and Treatment Factory; Food and Beverages Production Plant; Exhibition Support Centre; Construction, Utility and Other Industrial Support Workshop	Also includes manufacturing industries, industrial-based material recovery/recycling facility
Information Technology and Telecommunications Industries	Data Processing Centre; Telecommunications Services Centre
Offensive Trades
Open Storage (not elsewhere specified)	Vehicle Depot; Storage of Vehicles for Sale or Disposal; Storage of Scrap Metal; Storage of Rattan and Bamboo	Also includes storage of logs and timber, used electrical appliances, construction materials, ceramic/pottery products, processed agricultural products, cans/tanks, paper and general rubbish, construction equipment
Open Storage of Cement/Sand	Sand Depot
Open Storage of Chemical Products/ Dangerous Goods	Storage of Chemical Products; Storage of Dangerous Goods
Research, Design and Development Centre	Laboratory, Inspection and Testing Centre; Laboratory, Research, Design and Development Centre; Workshop of High Technology Products
Rural Workshop	Furniture Manufacturing Workshop; Glass and Earthenware Workshop; Rattan and Bamboo Products Workshop; Sawmill/Timber Yard; Wooden Products Workshop; Metalware Workshop; Paper Products and Printing Workshop; Textile, Clothing, Footwear, Leather Workshop	Also includes marble workshop, construction machinery repair workshop, food processing workshop Excludes Vehicle Repair Workshop
Service Industries		Applicable to "OU(Industrial Estate)" zone only
Ship-building, Ship-breaking and Ship-repairing Yard
Vehicle Repair Workshop	Vehicle Repair Garage	Excludes Motor-vehicle Assembly Plant
Vehicle Stripping/ Breaking Yard	Storage of Vehicles for Stripping/Breaking or Repair; Vehicle Stripping and/or Repair Workshop
Warehouse (excluding Dangerous Goods Godown)		Excludes Dangerous Goods Godown
IV. Other Special Uses and Installations
Abattoir
Bus Depot
Chemical and Biochemical Plant
Electric Power Station
Gas Works
Resource Recovery Park
Quarry
Oil Depot, Oil Refinery and Petro-chemical Plant
Refuse Disposal Installation
Sewage Treatment/ Screening Plant
V. Recreation and Leisure
Field Study/Education/ Visitor Centre
Golf Course		Includes golf driving range
Holiday Camp
Private Club
Place of Entertainment	Amusement Park; Place of Public Entertainment	Also includes billiard establishment, bowling alley, cinema, theatre, circus, discotheque, karaoke lounge, nightclub, public dancing hall, skating rink; amusement centre (amusement game centre, indoor go-kart ground, war game centre)
Place of Recreation, Sports or Culture	Art Studio; Golf Driving Range; Public Swimming Pool; Horse Riding School; Boating Centre; Aquarium	Also includes arts centre, arts gallery, city hall, civic centre, concert hall, cultural complex, rehearsal room for art performance, fitness centre, gymnasium, indoor recreation centre, museum, planetarium, stadium, sports ground/complex, sports training grounds and water sports centre, velodrome, oceanarium, outdoor go-kart ground, radio control model aircraft flying field, outdoor radio control model car playing ground, motocross ground, hobby farming, fishing ground
Theme Park
Zoo
VI. Education
Educational Institution		Includes universities, post-secondary colleges, schools providing post-secondary educational courses
School		Includes nursery, kindergarten, primary, secondary, special, language, computer, commercial and tutorial schools, technical institutes, art school, ballet, other types of schools providing interest/hobby related courses
Training Centre	Vocational Training Centre
VII. Medical Facility
Ambulance Depot
Hospital		Includes nursing home, maternity home
Public Clinic	Clinic/Polyclinic	Also includes Family Planning Association Clinic, SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Clinic, but excludes private medical consulting room which is regarded as a type of 'Shop and Services'
VIII. Government Use
Animal Quarantine Centre	Quarantine Station and Quarantine Lairage for Animals; Animal Pound
Correctional Institution
Firing Range
Government Refuse Collection Point
Government Use	Driving Test Centre; Fire Station; Government Flying Service; Judicial Facility; Police Reporting Centre/Police Post; Police Station; Post Office; Vehicle Pound; Weighing Station	Also includes Government depot and Government offices (except otherwise specified)
Library
Public Convenience	Public Bathhouse	Also includes latrine, public toilet
Service Reservoir
IX. Social/Community/Institution Use
Social Welfare Facility		Includes boys'/girls' homes, residential care home for the elderly, residential home for people with disabilities, drug treatment and rehabilitation centre, half-way house, long-stay care home, centre for community support services for elderly, child care centre, children and youth centre, community centre, counselling centre for drug abusers, rehabilitation centre for offenders, day activity centre, sheltered workshop for people with disabilities, social and recreational centre for the disabled, etc.
Institutional Use (not elsewhere specified)		Includes office of charitable organizations, non-governmental organizations, professional institutes, District/LegCo Councilors, consulate/consular office, other non-profit making organizations (excluding religious institution, residential institution and organizations for provision of education)
X. Religious Use
Religious Institution	Ancestral Hall; Shrine	Also includes mosque, chapel, tsz tong, church, nunnery, monastery, temple, convent, seminary, religious statue
XI. Funeral Related Facility
Burial Ground
Columbarium	Garden of Remembrance; Funeral Services Centre
Crematorium	Garden of Remembrance; Funeral Services Centre
Funeral Facility	Funeral Depot; Funeral Parlour; Funeral Services Centre	Also includes public funeral hall, mortuary
Grave	Mausoleum; Ossuarium
XII. Agricultural Use
Agricultural Use	Fish Pond Culture, Plant Nursery	Also includes rearing of poultry and livestock
On-Farm Domestic Structure
XIII. Open Space
Amenity Planting	Amenity Area; Forest Plantation; Tree Plantation
Open Space	Beach; Park and Garden; Playground/Playing Field; Promenade; Pedestrian Area; Pavilion	Also includes bathing beach, Aviary subsumed under Park and Garden
XIV. Conservation
Country Park
Nature Reserve	Wetland Reserve
Nature Trail
Wetland Habitat
Wild Animals Protection Area
XV. Public Transport Facility
Cable Car Route and Terminal Building
Mass Transit Railway Vent Shaft and/or Other Structure above Ground Level other than Entrance
People Mover
Pier
Public Vehicle Park (excluding container vehicle)
Public Transport Terminus or Station
XVI. Airport Related Use
Air Cargo Handling System and Facility
Air Catering Facility and Service
Aircraft Maintenance and Repair Plant
Airfield
Air Mail Centre
Air Passenger and Freight Handling and Processing System/Facility
Air Passenger Terminal and Concourse
Airport Apron
Airport Runway
Airport Supporting and Servicing Facility
Airport Taxiway
Air Traffic Control Tower and Centre
Apron Control Centre
Aviation Fuel Pipeline Reserve
Aviation Fuel Storage Facility
Radar, Navigational Aid, and Communication Devices
Sea Rescue Station
Vehicle Staging
XVII. Utility Installation
Public Utility Installation	Sewage Pumping Station; Flood Control Pumping Station; Telecommunications Radio Base Station (exceeding certain specified dimensions)	Also includes electricity substation, pylons, telephone exchange, water pumping station, pump house and sewage treatment/screening plant provided by the Goverment with a treatment capacity of less than 5,000m3 per day.
Radar, Telecommunications Electronic Microwave Repeater, Television and/or Radio Transmitter Installation
Utility Installation for Private Project
XVIII. Miscellaneous
Animal Boarding Establishment
Driving School
Helicopter Fuelling Station
Helicopter Landing Pad
Marina	Marine Related Facilities
Marine Fuelling Station
Petrol Filling Station / Green Fuel Station
Recyclable Collection Centre