153
sidents, and rarely heard or seen except in maps and official reports, has now a popula- tion of 323,273, an increase of 41.88 per cent :-
!
(a) Eastern District. The eastern District, i.e. from North Point to the Naval Yard, shows an increase of 38,215, being more than double the figure for 1911. This is due largely to the conversion of some large godowns, Fenwick's Engineering Yard and the French Convent into streets of re- sidential property, also to the rebuilding of a number of small two-storied houses. In 1911 this district contained a number of vacant tenements, while now every house is full, and the second most densely populated area is found here between Anton Street and Wanchai Road where the density is 1,410 per acre. This district has become a popular place of residence for clerks and others on small salaries, and the traffic between the business section of the City and Wanchai has greatly increased. This traffic passes across the route taken by Europeans to their residences on the higher levels and has given an exaggerated impression of the growth of the population. This district will be profoundly affected in the future by the large scheme for the Reclamation of the Bay which is about. to begin.
(b.) Upper Levels.--The increase in the Upper Levels is 7,185, due largely to the replacement of Europeans by wealthy Chinese; in houses where ten years ago a European family of four with four Chinese servants resided, there are now found Chinese families of often at least treble that number. Comparatively little building has been carried on in this section.
(c.) Hill District.The Hill District shows an increase of 101 in the non- Chinese population and 195 in the Chinese population in spite of the fact that a large Boarding House was temporarily closed at the date of the Census, and that the number of houses ready for occupation remain- ed about the same as in 1911. Since the Census a number of houses have been built or projected.
(d.) Central District.-The Central District i.e. from Pedder Street and Glenea- ly to the Tung Wah Hospital and Wing Lok Street, has increased by 31,187. No new sites have been opened up for building in this district, which has long been fully occupied, while along Des Voeux Road Central and the Praya many houses formerly used as emigrant lodging houses or family houses, have been turned into large department stores, which have all congregated here. The increase is therefore in a district, which was adequately filled before, and where rebuilding often means a sacrifice of accommodation owing to the more stringent Building and Sanitary regulations in force at the present time.
(e.) Sai Ying Pun.--Sai Ying Pun, .e. from the Tung Wah Hospital to Pok- fulam Road, only shows the small increase of 889. This district contains a number of old two-storied houses of poor construction, whose service is nearly done, and which will have to be rebuilt very soon, when the number of stories will doubtless be largely increased. This district contains the densest populated area ie., that bounded by Third, Eastern and Western Streets and Des Voeux Road West, the density being approxi- mately 1,600 per acre.
(f.) West Point.-West Point, i.e. from Pokfulam Road to Jubilee Road at the foot of Mount Davis, has increased by 10,929: this increase is mostly between Pokfulam and Hill Roads where there has been considerable building activity. West of Hill Road however a large number of houses have been demolished to make room for palatial Chinese re- staurants and large godowns.
In Victoria future expansion north of Kennedy, Caine and Bonham Roads is now impossible, all the available-ground being already fully occupied. But in the Upper Levels before the next Census the substitution of blocks of Chinese flats for European style houses standing in their own grounds will have rendered accommodation available there for large numbers of middle class Chinese, while the wealthier Chinese now in occupation may be expected to build themselves country homes on the south side of the Island, now rendered accessible by good motor roads.