Hong Kong has been called on to cut a 21-year plan to redevelop the Instagram-famous Choi Hung Estate

Hong Kong’s housing authority must use the latest technological methods to reduce the 21-year period set for the renovation of an old public estate known as an Instagram hotspot by three to six years, lawmakers said.

Lawmakers said on Thursday that more than a third of the residents of the Rainbow Choi Hung Estate were elderly, urging the government to allow them to move into flats in the late stages of redevelopment so they could continue to live in the same conditions.

The long-awaited estate development plan in Wong Tai Sin will be divided into three phases, according to authorities, with the first expected to start no earlier than 2028 and the third to be completed by 2049.

Residents are expected to move into the first batch of new redeveloped blocks by 2035-36.

The sprawling Choi Hung Estate is home to around 7,400 households in 11 7- to 20-story buildings built between 1962 and 1964. After the reconstruction, there will be 9,200 apartments, about 1,800 more than the existing number.

In a meeting with housing representatives, MP Frankie Ngan Man-yu called on the government to shorten the timeline and reduce the environmental impact and noise pollution expected by the redevelopment plan.