public garden. This proposal was accepted by the government in 1856 and,
on 12 October 1861, the Garden Committee was established.20 The proposal
was eventually realised in the 1860s by the Surveyor General’s Office. Thomas
McDonaldson was appointed as the curator, overseeing the construction of the
public garden on the land which had been the Government Gardens. The gar-
den’s plants and their seeds were mainly imported from Britain and Australia.
The garden was inaugurated by Governor Lord Rosmead and officially opened
to the public in 1864. The Parsee community even made donations to provide
for regular performances by a military band in the garden. In 1870, the govern-
ment promulgated the Public Gardens Ordinance,21 and the garden was renamed
the Botanical Gardens in 1871.22 Charles Ford was recommended by Sir Joseph
Hooker, Director of Kew Gardens, to be Superintendent of the Government
Gardens and Tree Planting Department. He assumed office on 13 May 1871,
taking charge of all matters in relation to plants and trees, as well as the tree-
planting in the Government Gardens and by the roads and the afforestation
of hillsides.23 At first, the Botanical Gardens only had various types of plants
as well as a collection of trees and flowers of commercial value to Hong Kong
planted for the general public’s appreciation. Later on, however, the Public
Gardens Advisory Committee was established and held the first Flower Show in
1872. By 1878, the Hong Kong Herbarium was added to the Botanical Gardens,
making the Botanical Gardens a botanical centre in the Far East.24 The Botanical
Gardens were not only a green space in the city’s core district, but also a driving
force in promoting botanical research.
The cultural activities of the European bourgeoisie also began taking root
in Hong Kong. The old City Hall, designed by French architect A. Hermitte
and officially opened by Prince Alfred, was Hong Kong’s cultural centre in
the late-nineteenth-century Hong Kong that promoted European bourgeoisie
20
Hong Kong Government Gazette, Hong Kong Government, 12 October 1861, p.315.
21
Leung Ping-wa, ed., Xianggang zhongxiqu fengwu zhi (Heritage of the Central and Western District,
Hong Kong), Hong Kong, Central and Western District Council, 2011, p.285; Wu Hao and Zhang Jianhao,
eds, Xianggang laohuajing zhi shenghuo jiumao (Hong Kong Reading Glasses – Old Memories of Livelihood),
Hong Kong, Huangguan chubanshe (Xianggang) youxian gongsi, 1996, p.155.
22
Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens website, www.lcsd.gov.hk/tc/parks/hkzbg/; Desmond
Hui, Selected Historic Buildings and Sites in Central District, Hong Kong, Antiquities and Monuments Office of
the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, 2004, p.68.
23
Patrick C.C. Lai and Joseph K.L. Yip, Hong Kong Herbarium: 130th Anniversary, 1878–2008, Hong
Kong, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, 2008, p.18.
24
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Hong Kong Herbarium, Hong Kong,
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, 2006, p.2, http://herbarium.gov.hk/DocFile/
Publications/2014325174392962.pdf.
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Duality in planning (1841–1898) · 15
culture. The building’s structure and functions were modelled on the social life
of the European upper class – with a 569-seat royal theatre, the magnificent
St George’s Hall and St Andrew’s Hall, music rooms, a public library, confer-
ence rooms, a museum and offices for the Hong Kong General Chamber of
Commerce. Balls, concerts, conferences and lectures were often held in the
halls. The Morrison Library, an integral part of the public libraries, already
had 8,000 books in 1871. In the first half of the twentieth century, the old City
Hall gave way to economic development, and its main building was converted
into the headquarters of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in
1933, while the rest was used as the clubhouses of private clubs, including those
for the military, between 1934 and 1946. In 1947, it was redeveloped into the
old Bank of China building.
The landmark buildings in Central imitated the European building style of
the time. Examples included: Murray House (Government Headquarters),
Flagstaff House and the clubhouse of the Hong Kong Club, built in 1846; St
John’s Cathedral, the foundation of which was laid in 1847 and construction
completed in 1849; the Central Police Station, the Victoria Prison and the
Central Magistracy, built in the 1840s; the Government Gardens built in 1864;
buildings including the old City Hall, which was built in 1869; and the Supreme
Court, completed in 1911. They all had European characteristics: stone pillars,
semi-circular window heads, geometric decor for the doorframes, Roman bel-
fries, Gothic spires, castles from the European Middle Ages, and so on. The con-
struction not only exuded aesthetically the elegance of European cities, but also
corresponded functionally to the Western administrative mode of operation.
Central was like a miniature British city. On the other hand, the construction in
Sheung Wan was funded by the Chinese. From the design to the materials, the
structures adopted the standards used by the common people under the Qing
rule. They were of crude design and high density, contrasting strongly with the
European design in Central.
Construction
Roads
Roads are like blood vessels in the human body. The design of a city’s road
network illustrates its government’s jurisdictional purview, while serving as an
important facility for enhancing its economic development. To establish the
city’s core area, the colonial government first built Queen’s Road on the north-
ern coast, which ran eastwards and westwards, while streets leading to Queen’s
Road ran northwards and southwards. The 50-feet (15 metres) wide Queen’s
Road first headed east before extending west, as Jardine Matheson had already
established its foothold at East Point and quite a few buildings had been built
in the east. On 1 July 1848, a contractor from Wuhua in Guangdong Province
named Tsang Sin signed a contract with the then Colonial Secretary, William
Caine, and Colonial Treasurer, William Thomas, for the formation works of
Queen’s Road Central and the Government House, and paid a 300 silver dollar
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16 · MAKING HONG KONG
bond as surety that the works would be completed on time.25 The works on
Queen’s Road were completed by the end of the 1840s. A thoroughfare that
wound through the northern coast of Hong Kong Island, Queen’s Road was
the starting point for all visitors upon arrival in Hong Kong by sea. As the alti-
tude of the terrain rose gradually from the low-lying coastal region towards the
north, travelling along Queen’s Road upon arrival in Hong Kong had a con-
notation of presenting oneself before the Queen. At the beginning of the twen-
tieth century, the colonial government built Statue Square near the pier where
government officials would disembark, reinforcing the British overtones of the
area. Queen’s Road, connecting the pier on the northern coast and the com-
mercial and residential areas, ran along northwards and southwards, and was
winding and narrow as a result of the constraints of the terrain.26 During the
mid-nineteenth century, insufficient flat land proved to be the major obstacle in
building roads on the rough and rugged terrain of Hong Kong Island’s northern
coast. As a result, the geographical and physical environment dictated the distri-
bution of roads.
The Praya, built in the nineteenth century on the northern coast of Hong
Kong Island, was between 50 and 100 feet wide and used by both pedestri-
ans and carriages. The method adopted to build this road was similar to that
employed in land reclamation. First, a seawall was built at the coastline, and the
space between the seawall and the coastal area was then filled up. The seawall
not only broadened the harbourfront, but also smoothed out the coastline to
facilitate the docking of ships and loading and unloading of cargo. Government
files showed that the construction of the harbourfront and seawalls was a recur-
rent government expenditure in the nineteenth century, accounting for a total of
70,620 pounds sterling over the 38 years from 1844 to 1882.27 Such works were
mainly carried out between 1859 and 1867, indicating that harbourfront works
were a major construction project of the City of Victoria in the 1860s. The roads
and facilities along the coast facilitated entrepôt trade. From 1889 to 1903, the
government spent millions of Hong Kong dollars on extending the harbourfront
northwards by 75 feet, which began from the Hong Kong and China Gas Works
in Shek Tong Tsui in Sai Wan in the west and stretched east to Murray Pier in
Central. A total land area of 58.5 acres (23.68 hectares), 10,200 feet long and 250
feet wide, was ultimately obtained by reclamation,28 primarily for the construc-
tion of a new road to address transport needs. The original Praya was renamed
25
HKRS No. 149, D & S No. 2/81, ‘Bonds for $300 by Affat as Surety for Assen the Contractor to Cut and
Level Site for New Government House’.
26
Lo, C.P., ‘Changing Population Distribution in the Hong Kong New Territories’, Annals of the Association
of American Geographers, Volume 58, No. 2, June 1968, pp.273–284.
27
‘Return of All Public Works, Civil Roads, Canals, Bridges, Buildings, &c., Not of a Military Nature, Which
Have Been Undertaken during the Year’, Hong Kong Blue Book, H2, Public Works, Hong Kong, Noronha &
Co., 1844–1882.
28
‘Report of the Director of Public Works’, Hong Kong Sessional Papers, Hong Kong, Noronha & Co.,
1893–1903; ‘Praya Reclamation Scheme’, Hong Kong Sessional Papers, Hong Kong, Noronha & Co., 1889,
pp.23–30; Ho Pui-yin, Challenges for an Evolving City: 160 Years of Port and Land Development in Hong Kong,
Hong Kong, Commercial Press (HK), 2004, p.73.
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Duality in planning (1841–1898) · 17
after the tenth Governor of Hong Kong (in office between 1887 and 1891),
George William Des Voeux, and was called Des Voeux Road. In 1890, Prince
Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, visited Hong Kong when the new
Praya was being built, and the government consequently named it Connaught
Road, after his title. Queen’s Road, Des Voeux Road and Connaught Road were
the main passages running through the heart of the city, and their importance
is reflected in the fact that they were all named after significant establishment
figures of the time.
Although Hong Kong’s territory extended to the Kowloon Peninsula in
1860, the peninsula was used by the British as a military stronghold. Thus, com-
mercial activities remained primarily on Hong Kong Island. Robinson Road,
leading from Mody Road in Tsim Sha Tsui northwards to Austin Road, was
the earliest main transport avenue developed on the Kowloon Peninsula. The
road was named after the fifth Governor of Hong Kong, Hercules Robinson
(1824–1897), who was in office between 1859 and 1865. Land reclamation
was conducted at the end of the nineteenth century for the construction of a
railway terminus at the southern end of the Kowloon Peninsula. After reclama-
tion in Tsim Sha Tsui Bay, Salisbury Road (its Chinese name changed after
1970 to what it is today) extended east, connecting with Robinson Road, which
extended south.29 After 1909, Robinson Road was renamed Nathan Road, after
Mathew Nathan, the 13th Governor of Hong Kong, who was in office between
1904 and 1907. (See Figure 1.2.)
In the 1870s, the government began developing the western part of the
Kowloon Peninsula (the area around Yau Ma Tei today) by way of public
auction. In 1876, the government sold Kowloon Marine Lot Nos 29, 30 and 31,
which included the seabed from today’s Temple Street in Yau Ma Tei in the east,
to Kansu Street in the south, Reclamation Street in the west and Wing Sing Lane
in the north. The lots allowed their purchasers to undertake reclamation and
build sections of Station Street (renamed Shanghai Street in 1909). The roads in
west Kowloon were named after various provinces and cities in China to reflect
the community-driven nature of the area’s development. In 1899, the govern-
ment again sold by public auction the waterfront west of Station Street, allowing
purchasers to build Reclamation Street.30 The pace of development of roads in
Kowloon in the second half of the nineteenth century suggests that the govern-
ment was focused on building main roads that would run through the Kowloon
Peninsula. At the same time, using private investments, the government sought
to develop the areas to the west of the peninsula. The government’s intentions to
rule the Chinese and foreigners separately at the time were obvious. The large-
scale land reclamation works at the southern end of the peninsula were a result
of coordination with planning for the Kowloon–Canton Railway terminus.
29
Hal Empson, Mapping Hong Kong: A Historical Atlas, Hong Kong, Government Information Services,
1992, pp.179–180.
30
‘Report of the Director of Public Works for the Year 1899’, Hong Kong Sessional Papers, Hong Kong,
Noronha & Co., 1900, No. 14/1900, p.232.
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18 · MAKING HONG KONG
Source: Hong Kong Public Records Office, Reference No. HKRS207-12-73, Map of Hong Kong – with British Kowloon (ca. 1888) (Map No. 73),
1888.
Figure 1.2 Street map of the Kowloon Peninsula in the nineteenth century
Piers
As marine transport was a main form of transportation in the nineteenth
century, trading companies and government departments strove to set up their
headquarters haphazardly on the northern coast of Hong Kong Island, building
piers, dockyards and godowns. From 1841 to 1845, the government spent 559
pounds sterling on building the first pier at today’s Chater Garden in Central:
the Harbour Master’s landing steps were the first government-built pier. The
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Duality in planning (1841–1898) · 19
works, which included the Harbour Master’s temporary living quarters, only
accounted for 1.2 per cent of total government spending from 1841 to 1844.31
Apart from the Harbour Master’s landing steps, the dedicated landing place for
officials was by the shore of the Victoria Barracks.32
From 1841 to 1882, Hong Kong spent up to 16,060 pounds sterling on
building and maintaining piers, of which 11,389 pounds sterling was invested
in building new piers,33 or 71 per cent of such total expenditure. The number of
piers built or rebuilt during this period was estimated to be about 30, with each
costing an average of 380 pounds sterling and mostly built within the City of
Victoria. Piers built by the Chinese communities were not large in scale. One
pier built in the Taipingshan District cost only 16 pounds sterling, illustrating
the crudeness of its construction. According to the Hong Kong Blue Book and the
annual reports of the Public Works Department, 120,300 Hong Kong dollars
was spent between 1889 and 1901 on building Blake Pier,34 the construction
of which began soon after the initial stages of the land reclamation works from
Sai Wan to Central. This shows how much the government valued the pier.
The project was contracted to Messrs Kinghorn & MacDonald and supervised
by J.F. Boulton and J.R. Mudie of the Public Works Department. The pier was
200 feet (60.96 metres) long and 40 feet (12.19 metres) wide, with its founda-
tion made up of 126-feet (38.40 metres) wide granite ashlar, and protruded 40
feet (12.19 metres) from the harbourfront, with four sets of landing steps each
on both sides.35 The pier was built with concrete, and was the largest pier in
Central from the end of the nineteenth century to the early twentieth century.
Owing to difficulties encountered in the construction of piles, the project took
longer than expected to complete.36 Blake Pier, which commenced construction
on 1 December 1889 and was completed in November 1900, was unveiled by
Governor Henry Blake and opened to public use on 29 November the same
year. When Hong Kong was struck by a strong typhoon in 1905, the roof of
Blake Pier suffered serious damage, causing the government to build piers with a
concrete and steel structure.
On 5 January 1897, the government rebuilt Murray Pier, using 5,989 cubic
feet of granite ashlar, 63 cubic yards of lime concrete and 628 cubic yards of
cement concrete.37 These concrete-built piers were considered large-scale
31
CO129/5, ‘Detailed Account Disbursements of the Land Department from June 1841 to January 1844’,
10 February 1844.
32
The Military Cantonment (1880), in Hal Empson, Mapping Hong Kong: A Historical Atlas, Hong Kong,
Government Information Services, 1992, p.164.
33
‘Return of All Public Works, Civil Roads, Canals, Bridges, Buildings, &c., Not of a Military Nature,
Which Have Been Undertaken During the Year’, Hong Kong Blue Book, Hong Kong, Noronha & Co., 1844–
1882, H2, Public Works, CO133/3.
34
‘Report of the Director of Public Works for the Year 1900’, Hong Kong Sessional Papers, Hong Kong,
Noronha & Co., 1901, No. 16, p.337.
35
Hong Kong Government Gazette, Hong Kong Government, 11 May 1901, pp.959, 961.
36
‘Report of the Director of Public Works for the Year 1900’, Hong Kong Sessional Papers, Hong Kong,
Noronha & Co., 1901, No. 16, p.337.
37
Hong Kong Government Gazette, Hong Kong Government, 30 October 1897, p.922.
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20 · MAKING HONG KONG
projects at the time, and signified the importance of entrepôt trade for Hong
Kong at the end of the nineteenth century.
The people of Hong Kong have a strong emotional tie to Queen’s Pier (origi-
nally named Queen’s Statue Wharf). Queen’s Pier was actually completed after
Blake Pier. The first Queen’s Pier was even more primitive than Blake Pier and
Murray Pier, with its history being traced back to 1899. The naming of Queen’s
Pier was deeply connected to Statue Square. After the completion of the land
reclamation works at the harbourfront outside the old City Hall in 1896, the
government built Statue Square at the junction between Connaught Road and
Wardley Street,38 and had plans to build the Supreme Court near the square, as
well as Wardley Street Wharf at the harbourfront opposite the square, which
would replace the government pier close to Victoria Barracks.39 On 19 June
1897, the Governor announced that a fireworks display would be held over the
harbour and forbade any Chinese without a pass from going to Wardley Street
Wharf,40 thus showing that completed in 1897, a year after Statue Square was
built, the wharf area was reserved for Europeans. By comparing maps of Central
at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century,
one can see that Wardley Street Wharf was situated at the same location as
Queen’s Statue Wharf. In January 1899, the Government Gazette proclaimed
multiple piers in Central, including Queen’s Statue Wharf, to be off limits to
livestock.41 This piece of information is the earliest mention of Queen’s Statue
Wharf in any official records, and it is reckoned that Wardley Street Wharf was
renamed Queen’s Statue Wharf in 1899. According to records of the Legislative
Council of 12 July 1904, Legislative Council members Gershom Stewart and
A.M. Thomson inquired as to whether the government would improve the facili-
ties of Blake Pier and Queen’s Statue Wharf, to which the Colonial Secretary’s
reply was that Queen’s Statue Wharf was a temporary construction,42 thus
showing that the structure of Queen’s Statue Wharf was very primitive at the
beginning of the twentieth century.
The government had proposed rebuilding Queen’s Statue Wharf in 1906,43
190844 and 1910,45 but such proposals never came to fruition. At a Legislative
Council meeting held on 15 September 1910, Governor Francis Henry May,
when approving the public expenditure for the year 1911, set aside 30,000 Hong
Kong dollars for the reconstruction works of Queen’s Statue Wharf. However,
38
Hongkong Telegraph, 28 May 1896.
39
Map of Hong Kong Central 1911, in Hal Empson, Mapping Hong Kong: A Historical Atlas, Hong Kong,
Government Information Services, 1992, p.165.
40
Hong Kong Government Gazette, Hong Kong Government, 19 June 1897.
41
Hong Kong Government Gazette, Hong Kong Government, 14 January 1899.
42
Hong Kong Hansard, Hong Kong Government, 12 July 1904, p.36, http://www.legco.gov.hk/1904/
h040712.pdf.
43
Hong Kong Hansard, Hong Kong Government, 13 September 1906, p.37, http://www.legco.gov.hk/
1906/h060913.pdf.
44
Hong Kong Hansard, Hong Kong Government, 24 September 1908, p.122, http://www.legco.gov.hk/
1908/ h080924.pdf.
45
Hong Kong Hansard, Hong Kong Government, 29 September 1910, p.102, http://www.legco.gov.hk/
1910/h100929.pdf.
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Duality in planning (1841–1898) · 21
official records of the government show that, before the wharf was rebuilt in
1921, the government did no more than repeated repairs and maintenance.46
In November 1920, Maurice Fitzmaurice visited Hong Kong and proposed
extension plans for the old Queen’s Statue Wharf. The Public Works Committee
discussed the plans and ultimately approved reconstruction, thus officially
commencing such works. Built with concrete, the new pier was 160.7 feet long,
41.3 feet wide and 16.8 feet deep. It was supported by 80 concrete piles that
were 60 to 68 feet tall, with a roof made of steel to withstand typhoons. The
basic construction of the new Queen’s Statue Wharf was completed by the end
of 1922, with follow-up works carried out in 1923 and 1924. Total construction
cost amounted to 204,000 Hong Kong dollars.47
Queen’s Statue Wharf was the first landing spot for principal government
officials on their arrival in Hong Kong, allowing them to see the statue of Queen
Victoria in Statue Square immediately after disembarking. Its significant politi-
cal implication indicates that the wharf not only served transport functions, but
also was a political tool in shaping the city’s image. Owing to its unique archi-
tectural features, Queen’s Statue Wharf was an important landmark of Central.
It was situated on the most expensive land in Central, off limits to the Chinese
without a pass whenever important ceremonies were held there. Queen’s Statue
Wharf, Murray Pier, Blake Pier and Ice House Street Pier (later renamed Star
Ferry Pier) in Central all forbade the transport of livestock (the government
only allowed the transport of livestock at the Yau Ma Tei Police Station Pier
every day from seven o’clock in the morning to five o’clock in the afternoon,
and livestock transport at the Hung Hom Pier at the same hours).48 The piers,
therefore, were not a daily transport facility for the general public at the time,
but rather something for the privileged or economically celebrated and busi-
nessmen. For the average citizen, taking a ferry ride was probably a major event
in one’s life.
Reservoirs
The construction of reservoirs was the most costly of the various infrastruc-
ture works in urban construction. It was also the most difficult, as the works
were unique to Hong Kong, without examples from other cities to follow. Such
construction plans would be hard to realise without good planning in years of
tight finances. In the 1840s and 1850s, the people of Hong Kong mostly relied
on creeks, streams and groundwater sources to meet their daily fresh water
needs. After the Taiping Rebellion in 1850, Hong Kong’s population grew
46
Hong Kong Blue Book, Hong Kong, Noronha & Co., 1911, F40–F41; Hong Kong Administrative Reports,
Hong Kong, Noronha & Co., 1911, Appendix P, p.22.
47
‘Report of the Director of Public Works for the Year 1921’, Hong Kong Administrative Reports, Hong
Kong, Noronha & Co., 1922, Appendix Q, Q 59–60; ‘Report of the Director of Public Works for the Year
1924’, Hong Kong Administrative Reports, Hong Kong, Noronha & Co., 1925, Appendix Q, Q 89.
48
Hong Kong Government Gazette, Hong Kong Government, 14 January 1899; Hong Kong Hansard, Hong
Kong Government, 14 September 1904, p.42, http://www.legco.gov.hk/1904/h040914.pdf.
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22 · MAKING HONG KONG
continuously. As Hong Kong lacked rivers and lakes with an abundant supply of
water, it was impossible to satisfy the growing population’s needs for fresh water
by solely relying on scarce natural water sources.
On 14 October 1859, the government offered a reward of 1,000 pounds ster-
ling to publicly solicit proposals to develop water sources.49 On 29 February
1860, S.B. Rawling, Clerk of Works, Royal Engineers, suggested building a man-
made reservoir in the Pok Fu Lam valley to collect rainwater and then, by making
use of the higher terrain of the Pok Fu Lam valley and the principle that water
flows downwards, to carry the collected rainwater through aqueducts to densely
populated regions in Central and Sheung Wan. His proposal was adopted by
the government.50 With the first reservoir, which was built in 1863, the people
of Hong Kong began drinking fresh water from reservoirs that store rainwater,
and these reservoirs have become a unique characteristic of Hong Kong. At its
completion, the Pok Fu Lam Reservoir only had a capacity of 2 million gallons
(9.08 million litres). With the population of Hong Kong standing at 124,000
in 1863 and assuming each person consumed 4 gallons (18.16 litres) of water
daily, the daily water consumption of Hong Kong would be 500,000 gallons
(2.27 million litres). The Pok Fu Lam Reservoir could therefore only supply
four days’ consumption for the entire population of Hong Kong at the time.
According to the statistics in the Key Facts, August 2015 of the Water Supplies
Department, in 2014 Hong Kong consumed an average of 2.63 million cubic
metres (2.63 billion litres) of fresh water daily, equivalent to an annual total
of 959 million cubic metres (959.5 billion litres).51 The Census and Statistics
Department estimated Hong Kong’s population to be 7.27 million at the end of
2014,52 which means that each person in Hong Kong consumed an average of
0.362 cubic metres (362 litres) of water daily, a twentyfold increase over 1863.
As the population climbed, the government employed vast economic
resources in building additional reservoirs to meet people’s need for fresh
water. The government built the Tai Tam Water Supply System in the Southern
District on Hong Kong Island from 1883 to 1917, raising the capacity of reser-
voirs to 2.2 billion gallons (10 billion litres), and introduced new water pumps
to improve the efficiency of the water supply system. In 1917, Hong Kong’s pop-
ulation was about 540,000, and the Tai Tam Water Supply System could supply
11 gallons (50 litres) of fresh water for each person daily. The government
further built the Shing Mun Reservoir, which has a capacity of 3 billion gallons
(13.62 billion litres), between 1929 and 1939, so that each day an average of up
to 3.5 to 4.5 million gallons (15.89 to 20.43 million litres) of fresh water would
be conveyed to districts throughout Hong Kong by submarine pipelines.53
49
‘Government Notification No. 98’, Hong Kong Government Gazette, Hong Kong Government, 15
October 1859.
50
Leonard Jackson, The Hong Kong Waterworks, Hong Kong, Local Printing Press, 1949, p.31.
51
Water Supplies Department, Key Facts, August 2015, Hong Kong, Water Supplies Department, p.14,
http://www.wsd.gov.hk/filemanager/tc/share/pdf/key_facts_2015.pdf.
52
http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/so20_.jsp.
53
Ho Pui-yin, Water for a Barren Rock: 150 Years of Water Supply in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Commercial
Press, 2001, p.94.
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Duality in planning (1841–1898) · 23
In the few decades after the war, collecting rainwater by building reservoirs
remained the primary source of fresh water for the people of Hong Kong. As
the result of a rapidly growing population and abundant economic resources,
the new reservoir projects grew larger in scale. By the 1950s and 1960s, newly
completed reservoirs included the Tai Lam Chung Reservoir (with a capacity of
5 billion gallons (22.7 billion litres)) and the Shek Pik Reservoir (with a capacity
of 5.4 billion gallons (24.52 billion litres)). Although both of these reservoirs are
larger than the Shing Mun Reservoir (which was the largest reservoir before the
war), they still proved insufficient to meet the rapidly rising need for fresh water
after the war. The Plover Cove Reservoir and the High Island Reservoir, built in
1968 and 1979 respectively, were epoch-making constructions – the design phi-
losophy and practical functionality behind the construction of these reservoirs
are a testimony of the rapid pace with which Hong Kong developed as a society.
Utilising the topography of the Tolo Harbour, the Plover Cove Reservoir was the
largest coastal lake in the world when it was built, with a capacity of 51.7 billion
gallons (234.75 billion litres). The High Island Reservoir, built with the benefit
of the experience from the construction of the Plover Cove Reservoir, was even
larger in scale and had a capacity of 60 billion gallons (272.44 billion litres),
thus helping to solve Hong Kong’s water supply problems. The annual rainfall in
Hong Kong is very unevenly distributed. According to the yearly average rainfall
recorded by the Hong Kong Observatory from 1883 to 2014, the average annual
rainfall for those 131 years was 2,256 mm54 (from 2010 onwards, the Hong
Kong Observatory began adopting a different calculation method – calculating
the average rainfall with the use of the standard climate normal between 1981
and 2010). As the annual rainfall for 1997 was 3,343 mm and the climate normal
before 1981 was not included in the calculations, the official average annual rain-
fall for 2014 in Hong Kong was 2,399 mm.55 However, the rainy season is mostly
concentrated between May and September each year, with a drastic variation
in rainfall between the wet (May to September) and dry (October to April)
periods. In a dry year like 1963, when the annual rainfall was only 901 mm,56 the
rainwater collected was clearly insufficient to meet people’s needs. It was not
ideal to rely on rainfall to solve Hong Kong’s water supply problems, for, if there
were no rain, there would be no rainwater to collect regardless of how large the
reservoirs were. Therefore using rainwater for drinking was only a solution com-
pelled by circumstances. An insufficient fresh water supply plagued the overall
development of Hong Kong.
On the other hand, the building of reservoirs required that catchment areas
be reserved close to the reservoirs, so that catchwaters could be built to channel
54
‘Ranking of Air Temperature and Rainfall in Hong Kong at Annual’, Hong Kong Observatory website,
http://www.hko.gov.hk/cis/statistic/erank13.htm.
55
Summary of Meteorological Observations in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Royal Observatory, 1993–1999.
56
J.E. Peacock, ed., Hong Kong Meteorological Records and Climatological Notes 60 Years, Hong Kong
Royal Observatory, 1951; Meteorological Results Annual Report, Hong Kong Royal Observatory, 1951–1990;
G.J. Bell and P.C. Chin, The Probable Maximum Rainfall in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Government Press, 1968;
P. Peterson, The Rainfall of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Government Press, 1957, p.3.
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24 · MAKING HONG KONG
rainwater into the reservoirs and to drain away torrents during the rainy season.
To minimise the loss of rainwater and slow down surface erosion by the ele-
ments, plans that would facilitate the drainage of water, such as horsetail trees,
slash pines, forest grey gums and lemon-scented gums, were planted in catch-
ment areas in abundance. These catchment areas therefore have become Hong
Kong’s green areas, and the reservoirs built to supply fresh water are a unique
characteristic of Hong Kong and great picnic destinations for the people of
Hong Kong during the holidays. (See Table 1.1.)
The City of Victoria in the nineteenth century had all the essential political,
cultural and religious infrastructure of a European city. Balancing the interests
of different sectors, the city provided Europeans with space to develop their
political, economic and daily life activities. Furthermore, in response to the
city’s unique environment, a great deal of human and material resources were
employed to build the basic and important infrastructure required for the estab-
lishment of an entrepôt, which included seawalls, main roads and piers, while the
construction of reservoirs proved to be investment projects of the largest scale.
The spending of government resources prescribed the focus of development on
the northern coast of Hong Kong Island and the area south of Government Hill
in the second half of the nineteenth century. Western District of Hong Kong
Island was not mentioned in the blueprints of completed projects, indicating
that this district was developed at a later stage.57 The city’s reliance on rainwater
for its survival was only altered in the 1960s, when China agreed to supply Hong
Kong with fresh water from the Dongjiang (East River).
Crises
Fire disasters: land reclamation
Since the City of Victoria was built on the northern coast of Hong Kong Island,58
the population of Hong Kong had continuously grown. The topography of
Hong Kong Island is hilly and tilts from the north to the south, with the north-
ern part composed mostly of land that is mountainous with an altitude of 250 to
300 metres. Only a very small area of flat land is available for development. In
order to accommodate the growing population and develop as an entrepôt trade
centre of the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong had to make use of new technology
in construction to solve its housing, water supply and transport problems. Of
the various Western construction techniques, land reclamation was most useful
for solving the problem of land shortage in the city’s core district. The newly
reclaimed land was in fact located within the core district. In other words, the
core district of the city was mostly built by manual labour. The realisation of land
reclamation plans at that time faced as many challenges as it does today. Apart
from insufficient resources, there was also obstruction by private landowners, as
57
Historical and Statistical Abstract of the Colony of Hong Kong 1841–1930, Hong Kong, Noronha & Co.,
1932, p.1.
58
Friend of China and Hong Kong Gazette, 7 April 1842.
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M4593-HO_9781788117944_t.indd 25
Table 1.1 Construction year and scale of Hong Kong reservoirs
Reservoir Establishment Total 1996 2015
Year Reservoir Total area of Expenditure Total area of Total Reservoir Reservoir Reservoir
storage catchment (HK$’000) catchment expenditure of capacity capacity storage*
(’000 gallons (acre (km2)) (acre (km2)) establishment (’000 gallons (’000 gallons (’000 gallons
(’000 m3)) and extension (’000 m3)) (’000 m3)) (’000 m3))
(HK$’000)
Pok Fu Lam 1863 2,000 – 170 416 455 57,420 30,580 –
Reservoir (9) (1.68) (261) (139)
Tai Tam Reservoirs 4,775
Tai Tam Upper 1889 312,330 680 1,257 680.56 1,365 360,140 327,800 193,820
Reservoir (1,420) (2.75) (2.75) (1,637) (1,490) (881)
Tai Tam Byewash 1904 22,400 – 142 – – 22,440 17,600 13,420
Reservoir (102) (102) (80) (61)
Tai Tam 1908 210,400 – 896 – – 199,320 150,920 149,380
Intermediate (956) (906) (686) (679)
Reservoir
Tai Tam Tuk 1918 1,420,000 – 2,371 – – 1,368,180 1,330,340 933,240
Reservoir (6,455) (6,219) (6,047) (4,242)
Wong Nai Chung 1899 30,340 100 82 100 82 33,220 – –
Reservoir (138) (0.4) (0.4) (138)
Kowloon Group 941 2,283
of Reservoirs (3.8)
Kowloon Reservoir 1906 352,500 438 1,234 755 1,600 347,160 347,160 321,200
(1,602) (1.77) (3.06) (1,578) (1,578) (1,460)
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Table 1.1 (continued)
Reservoir Establishment Total 1996 2015
Year Reservoir Total area of Expenditure Total area of Total Reservoir Reservoir Reservoir
storage catchment (HK$’000) catchment expenditure capacity capacity storage*
(’000 gallons (acre (km2)) (acre (km2)) of establishment (’000 gallons (’000 gallons (’000 gallons
(’000 m3)) and extension (’000 m3)) (’000 m3)) (’000 m3))
(HK$’000)
Kowloon Reception 1926 33,150 96 164 – – 33,220 26,620 26,620
Reservoir (151) (0.38) (151) (121) (121)
Kowloon Byewash 1931 185,500 90 519 – – 187,660 176,000 144,760
Reservoir (843) (0.36) (853) (800) (658)
Shek Lei Pui 1926 116,100 139 247 139 247 100,760 82,280 74,800
Reservoir (528) (0.56) (0.56) (458) (374) (340)
Aberdeen 276,980
Reservoirs (1,259)
Aberdeen Lower 1890 4,420 – – – – – 106,920 33,880
Reservoir (20) (486) (154)
Aberdeen Upper 1931 175,000 145 1,005 1,009 2,555 – 170,060 63,800
Reservoir (795) (0.59) (4.08) (773) (290)
Shing Mun
Reservoirs
Shing Mun 1939 3,000,000 3,050 8,664 3,050 8,664 2,921,380 2,921,380 2,618,220
Reservoir (13,636) (12.34) (12.34) (13,279) (13,279) (11,901)
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Lower Shing Mun 1965 950,000 – – – – 945,780 945,780 206,580
Reservoir (4,318) (4,299) (4,299) (939)
Tai Lam Chung 1957 4,500,000 2,000 100,000 2,000 100,000 4,507,800 4,507,800 4,285,600
Reservoir (20,455) (8.09) (8.09) (20,490) (20,490) (19,480)
Shek Pik Reservoir 1963 5,515,000 8,959 250,000 8,959 250,000 5,381,640 5,381,420 4,509,340
(25,068) (36.26) (36.26) (24,462) (24,461) (20,497)
Plover Cove 1968 37,378,000 – 407,000 – 435,000 50,540,380 50,540,380 43,330,100
Reservoir (169,900) (229,7290) (229,729) (196,955)
High Island 1978 60,280,000 14,826.3 1,348,000 14,826.3 1,348,000 61,847,280 61,847,280 47,603,600
Reservoir (274,000) (60) (60) (281,124) (281,124) (216,380)
Note: * Statistics as at 1 December 2015.
Sources: Ho Pui-yin, Xianggang gongshui yibai wushi nian lishi yanjiu baogao 《香港供水一百五十年歷史研究報告》 (A Study of Historical Development of Water Supply in Hong Kong), Hong Kong, Water Supplies
Department, 2001; Water Supplies Department, Hong Kong’s Water, Hong Kong, Water Supplies Department, 1996; Water Supplies Department, ‘The Legacy of Waterworks’, 10 June 2014, http://www.wsd.gov.hk/tc/
education/history/the_legacy_of_waterworks/the_legacy_of_waterworks/index.html, accessed 13 June 2015; Water Supplies Department, ‘Capacity of Impounding Reservoirs in Hong Kong’, http://www.wsd.gov.hk/tc/publi-
cations_and_statistics/statistics/capacity_of_impounding_reservoirs_in_hong_kong/index.html, accessed 7 December 2015; Water Supplies Department, ‘Current Storage Position of Impounding Reservoirs’, http://www.wsd.
gov.hk/tc/publications_and_statistics/statistics/current_storage_position_of_reservoirs/index.html, accessed July–December 2015.
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28 · MAKING HONG KONG
well as opposition from the British military. After the first large-scale reclama-
tion project commenced in the 1850s, the government had intended to press
on with land reclamation in earnest. However, it was only after some 30 years
of disputes that the approval of various parties was obtained in 1899 to relaunch
reclamation projects.
The first large-scale manpower-dependent land creation project in Hong
Kong was actually sparked by a major fire that broke out on Wednesday, 28
December 1851 at 10 p.m. at the Lower Bazaar (today’s Jervois Street in Sheung
Wan) and lasted until 5.30 a.m. in the early morning of 29 December 1951.59 It
was a milestone for the expansion of the core district towards the west through
reclamation. The fire started at Che-cheong Clothes Shop at No. 601, Lot No.
16 of Sheung Wan, only 150 feet from the warehouse of Gibb, Livingston &
Co. in Central. The fire was most severe at 1 a.m. on 29 December, spreading
eastwards to the present-day junction between Queen’s Road Central, Jervois
Street and Wellington Street, southwards to Queen’s Road Central, westwards
to the intersection of Jervois Street and Morrison Street, and northwards to the
harbourfront north of Jervois Street. The fire affected an area of 189,792 square
feet (about 4.4 acres).60
During the fire, in order to stop it from spreading east into the Central dis-
tricts, the army and the navy used 100-pound explosives to collapse houses to
cut off the fire. The fire resulted in 450 houses destroyed, two lieutenants, R.A.
Tomkyns and R.A. Lugg, killed, several servicemen injured, 200 Chinese missing,
and some 30,000 pounds sterling worth of damage to property. Factors including
the high density of houses, the large amount of stored goods, and a lack of sources
of water for putting out the fire, as well as crude fire protection equipment, all
contributed to the fire spreading rapidly and becoming out of control,61 and the
site of the fire suffered severe damage as a result. The government, which had up
to that point always been critical of the environmental hygiene and public order
of the Chinese settlements in the coastal area around Taipingshan, saw the fire as
an opportunity to give the Chinese community an overhaul.
After the fire, Surveyor General Gordon made plans for the first large-scale
reclamation project at Praya Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan. The works com-
menced at the junction of today’s Wellington Street, Jervois Street and Queen’s
Road Central and ended at the interchange of Jervois Street and Morrison Street.
The project saw a 50-feet-wide praya by the waterfront, extending along Bonham
Strand north. The materials used for reclamation were primarily taken from hills
on Hospital Road, while some were construction waste from Taipingshan area.
The estimated construction cost was 2.78 Hong Kong dollars per square foot.
The government sold the marine lots publicly by auction, and the owners of these
59
D. Henry Talbot, ‘An Outline of the Urban Development of Hong Kong Island during the Nineteenth
Century’, in D.J. Dwyer, ed., The Changing Face of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Branch of the Royal
Asiatic Society, Ye Olde Printerie, 1971, p.57.
60
Friend of China and Hong Kong Gazette, 3 January 1852, p.2.
61
CO129/38, No. 89, ‘Special Report from Police Department to Major Caine’, 29 December 1851,
pp.120–127; Friend of China and Hong Kong Gazette, 31 December 1851, pp.426–427.
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Duality in planning (1841–1898) · 29
marine lots had to bear the construction cost of piers, part of the reclamation
works and seawalls. On the other hand, the government allowed the marine lot
owners to collect a fee from members of the public who used the piers. By asking
the private landowners to fund the reclamation works and the construction of
piers and collecting Crown rent from these new landowners, the government
managed to cut costs while at the same time raising revenue for the Treasury.
Most marine lot owners did not favour reclamation, as they had to shoulder
the costs for reclamation in order to attain ownership of the reclaimed land.
Furthermore, the original piers would not be able to remain in normal operation
while the works were in progress, thus bringing economic loss to the owners. The
reclamation works at Praya Bonham Strand were able to be carried out smoothly
because of the fact that most of the owners were Chinese, who typically did not
dare to oppose government policy. The only lots owned by European owners
were Gibb, Livingston & Co. of Lot Nos 1 and 4, J.G. Mornson of Lot No. 6 and
L.M.S. Chapel of Lot No. 191. Moreover, most of the leases for the lots were
going to expire in two to three years. There was therefore little reason for owners
with these leases to oppose reclamation. Under these circumstances, the gov-
ernment was able to reach agreements more easily with owners.62
The completed Bonham Strand was the centre of gold and silver trading
by the Chinese at the end of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth
century. The Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society, established in 1910,
also moved into 52 Bonham Strand in 1933. The construction method of land
reclamation by making use of materials from hills and building seawalls proved
to be a model followed by reclamation projects to come. After the reclama-
tion project of Bonham Strand, the government further proposed plans for the
Praya Reclamation Scheme as well as reclamation in Central, in order to actively
develop Hong Kong’s land resources.
The data on the Sheung Wan reclamation works disclose in detail the tech-
niques and construction characteristics of early reclamation projects. The key
part of the works was the building of the seawall. Once it was built, the seabed
between the seawall and the coast was filled with sediment and rocks in order
to connect the seawall to coastal land. The seawall was built using the method
of Pierre-perdue, which was similar to the modern method of vertical seawall
construction: using large rocks (each no smaller than 8 cubic feet in size) as its
foundation, the seawall would have a gradient of 2:1 on the seaward side and 1:1
on the landward side.63 The interstices were then filled with rubble. The stone-
work above the seawall footings foundation was constructed of ashlar masonry.
To ensure the strength and durability of the new seawall, the masonry was set in
cement mortar in place of pure cement. The use of lime was not allowed in any
part of the work.64
62
Friend of China and Hong Kong Gazette, 3 January 1853, pp.2–3.
63
CO129/129, ‘Proposed Extension of Praya Bonham Strand – Supplementary Report and Estimate No.
23 of 1868’, 24 March 1868.
64
CO129/129, ‘Proposed Extension of Praya Bonham Strand – Supplementary Report and Estimate No.
23 of 1868’, 24 March 1868.
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30 · MAKING HONG KONG
After being struck by the severe typhoon of 1874, the government proposed
large-scale reclamation works along coastal areas in 1875. However, these pro-
posals were never realised, owing to a lack of funds. By the 1880s, the seabed of
the northern coast of Hong Kong Island had become increasingly shallow as a
result of prolonged accumulation of alluvium from the Pearl River Delta. When
the tide was low in spring, the shallow waters were under 20 feet deep. As the
tonnage of ocean-going ships continued to climb, the waters could no longer
allow for the berthing of the larger vessels. On 13 July 1887, Paul Chater, taipan
of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Co., reintroduced discus-
sion on the Praya Reclamation Scheme. This was because, during the reclamation
works, dredging works could also be carried out to deepen the coastal chan-
nels and solve the berthing problems for ocean-going vessels. Moreover, with the
price of land rising continuously, landowners stood to make a profit even after
taking into account the construction costs and other losses. Chater’s proposal
was therefore well suited for society’s needs at the time. With consensus reached
between the government and the commercial sector, a reclamation scheme of the
largest scale since the mid-nineteenth century commenced in 1889.
The land reclamation from 1889 to 1903 covered an area from the Hong
Kong and China Gas Works in Sai Wan (today’s Whitty Street) in the west to
Murray Pier in Central (today’s City Hall multi-storey car park) in the east.
A total of 2 miles (about 3,218.6 metres) in length and creating 59 acres (23.9
hectares) of land, the reclamation project was the main reason behind the exist-
ence of Connaught Road and a range of new facilities. From 1921 to 1931 the
government created a further 86 acres of land by reclamation from Central to
Wan Chai. These two projects established the mechanism for future reclama-
tion in Hong Kong: in order to save government spending, reclamation works
would continuously be included in land to be sold, so that the works could be
funded by the private sector; and, to ensure that the reclamation materials and
construction techniques used by the private developers as well as the reclama-
tion area would suit the government’s overall development plans, the govern-
ment would specify the fixed completion date and specifications before selling
the land to facilitate future regulation. This process not only increased revenue
for the Treasury through the creation of land, but also utilised the economic
power of the private sector in undertaking the reclamation works to develop
coastal land. As for issues concerning the respective rights and obligations of the
government and private landowners, such as construction costs, ownership of
the newly created land, the determination of the land premium and Crown rent,
and the future development of the land, they were dealt with in advance through
contracts. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the City of Victoria
gradually extended in a belt shape from Central and Sheung Wan to Sai Wan in
the west, and subsequently to Wan Chai and Causeway Bay in the east.
By the first half of the twentieth century, the reclamation techniques used in
Hong Kong had become rather mature. Apart from building facilities that could
withstand storm surges and typhoons, the government also had to manage both
the new and the old ancillary facilities of reclaimed land, for example the con-
nection of new and old water pipes and sewerage pipelines, the convergence of
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Duality in planning (1841–1898) · 31
roads, traffic arrangements during construction, and so on. In the 1970s, before
the use of the band drains in speeding up settlement, the reclamation works in
Hong Kong mostly utilised the European method of rock-mounding in building
seawalls. Reclaimed land may only be built on after it has settled, allowing its soil
to lose moisture. While settlement was in progress, the government would use
the reclaimed land as small bazaars, allowing merchants to set up store and street
performers to perform. Such land was therefore called the ‘commoners’ night-
club’, and was a favourite among the general public looking for entertainment in
their leisure time.
In densely populated areas, land reclamation projects with systematic plan-
ning are a way for the government to expand a city’s core district. In carrying
out reclamation projects, one has to balance the society’s needs, its political and
economic development, and the interests of various parties. The reclaimed land
in the coastal areas on Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Peninsula and the New
Territories has allowed the latest harbour facilities to be built up along the coast
towards both the east and the west. (See Table 1.2.)
Typhoons: redeveloping the harbourfront and building typhoon
shelters
Every year from June to October, Hong Kong is subject to typhoons moving
north from the Philippines towards South-east Asia and the South China Sea.
From 1956 to 2014, a total of 349 tropical cyclones (an average of 5.9 per year)
necessitating a tropical cyclone warning signal to be hoisted by the Hong Kong
Observatory were recorded. In the same period, as many as 919 tropical cyclones
were recorded within Hong Kong’s area of responsibility.65 Typhoons usually
hit during the summer, and in the nineteenth century when buildings were still
quite primitive they caused severe damage to life and property.
Before the Hong Kong Observatory was established in 1883, there was no
professional department within the government responsible for observing and
recording the movement of typhoons, nor were there any specific procedures
for releasing information on typhoons. As a result, there was an almost com-
plete lack of data on typhoons at the time. After the establishment of the Hong
Kong Observatory, more detailed records of the direction of movement, average
hourly wind speeds and maximum gust of typhoons began to accumulate.
According to newspapers at the time, the strongest typhoons causing the most
serious damage before 1883 were those of 1867, 1870 and 1874.66 In particu-
lar, the typhoon that hit Hong Kong on 22–23 September 1874 was the most
ferocious, and was the strongest typhoon of the second half of the nineteenth
century. The city’s original constructions were almost completely destroyed by
the typhoon, and the number of deaths just a few days after the typhoon hit
was estimated to be as high as around 2,000, with the actual number of victims
65
Hong Kong Observatory, Tropical Cyclones in 2014, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Observatory, 2015, p.86.
66
Wah Kiu Yat Po, 29 May 1964; Wah Kiu Yat Po, 18 October 1964; Wah Kiu Yat Po, 29 May 1966.
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Table 1.2 Statistics on land reclamation in Hong Kong over the years
Fiscal year Area reclaimed Total area Area of Hong Fiscal year Area reclaimed Total area Area of Hong
during the year reclaimed Kong during the year reclaimed Kong
(km2) (km2) (km2) (km2) (km2) (km2)
1850–1930 <5.00 1986–1987 1.51 23.77 1,070.12
1945–1959 1.38 1.38 1,047.73 1987–1988 1.74 25.51 1,071.86
1959–1960 0.76 2.14 1,048.49 1988–1989 1.52 27.03 1,073.38
1960–1961 0.38 2.52 1,048.87 1989–1990 1.24 28.27 1,074.62
1961–1962 0.26 2.78 1,049.13 1990–1991 0.68 28.95 1,075.30
1962–1963 0.50 3.28 1,049.63 1991–1992 0.97 29.92 1,076.27
1963–1964 0.32 3.59 1,049.94 1992–1993 0.97 30.89 1,077.24
1964–1965 1.08 4.67 1,051.02 1993–1994 4.70 35.59 1,081.94
1965–1966 0.61 5.28 1,051.63 1994–1995 8.97 44.56 1,090.91
1966–1967 0.84 6.11 1,052.46 1995–1996 2.43 46.99 1,093.34
1967–1968 0.55 6.66 1,053.01 1996–1997 0.75 47.74 1,094.09
1968–1969 0.53 7.19 1,053.54 1997–1998 0.77 48.51 1,094.86
1969–1970 0.32 7.51 1,053.86 1998–1999 1.33 49.84 1,096.19
1970–1971 0.38 7.90 1,054.25 1999–2000 0.49 50.33 1,096.68
1971–1972 0.41 8.31 1,054.66 2000–2001 1.40 51.73 1,098.08
1972–1973 0.32 8.63 1,054.98 2001–2002 1.92 53.65 1,100.00
1973–1974 0.52 9.14 1,055.49 2002–2003 1.73 55.38 1,101.73
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1974–1975 0.51 9.65 1,056.00 2003–2004 0.83 56.21 1,102.56
1975–1976 0.35 10.00 1,056.35 2004–2005 1.16 57.37 1,103.72
1976–1977 0.21 10.21 1,056.56 2005–2006 0.32 57.69 1,104.04
1977–1978 0.41 10.63 1,056.97 2006–2007 −0.07 57.62 1,103.97
1978–1979 1.90 12.52 1,058.87 2007–2008 0.30 57.92 1,104.27
1979–1980 0.98 13.50 1,059.85 2008–2009 0.05 57.97 1,104.32
1980–1981 0.99 14.49 1,060.84 2009–2010 0.06 58.03 1,104.38
1981–1982 0.89 15.39 1,061.74 2010–2011 0.01 58.04 1,104.39
1982–1983 0.44 15.82 1,062.17 2011–2012 0.02 58.06 1,104.41
1983–1984 2.05 17.88 1,064.23 2012–2013 0.02 58.08 1,104.43
1984–1985 3.43 21.30 1,067.65 2013–2014 0.03 58.11 1,104.46
1985–1986 0.96 22.26 1,068.61 2014–2015 1.16 59.27 1,105.62
Note: The total area of Hong Kong in the financial year 2006–2007 became smaller in comparison with the previous year owing to a change of calculation method.
Sources: Hong Kong Lands Department, Architectural Services Department and Civil Engineering and Development Department.
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34 · MAKING HONG KONG
expected to be much higher. Among those affected, the boat people, accounting
for 17 per cent of Hong Kong’s population of 120,000 at the time,67 suffered the
most casualties.
The reports submitted after the typhoon to the Colonial Secretary on 30
September 1874 by the heads of various departments of the government, includ-
ing the Captain Superintendent of Police, the Colonial Surgeon, the Director of
Public Works, the Surveyor General and the Harbour Master, detailed the sever-
ity of the situation. The typhoon was at its strongest from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. in the
early morning of 23 September, and the 0.75-mile-long area from the busy old
City Hall to Tung Kai Street (today’s Cosco Tower at Wing Lok Street), the
1-mile-long harbourfront from Tung Kai Street to the Mariner’s Club (the junc-
tion of Western Street and Des Voeux Road West, where the Western Police
Station, or ‘Police Station No. 7’, was – this is now known as the Western District
Headquarters and Western Police Station) and the seawall along the coast of
East Point had all been destroyed and required reconstruction. None of the
godowns or piers along the coast had been spared. The bodies recovered by the
police included 604 Chinese and 17 Europeans, while the Office of the Registrar
General recorded 712 drowned and 84 crushed under collapsed buildings. The
number of casualties was so numerous that it was difficult to be accurate, with
initial estimates reaching over 1,000. Drowned bodies were left floating across
the harbour days after the typhoon, buffeted by the waves. Moreover, the sewage
outfalls along the coast were blocked because of damage to the seawalls, causing
sewage to flow backward. The stench of death hung over the city. In addition,
200 houses collapsed, two ocean-going vessels were stranded, eight ships sank,
and hundreds of sailing boats and sampans were destroyed. Government build-
ings were also damaged to various degrees by the typhoon, with the Government
Civil Hospital suffering the most severe damage: its doors and windows were
damaged and the building’s top-floor ceiling was blown away. Other buildings
with their roofs swept off by the typhoon included police stations, post offices,
six primary markets of the City of Victoria, and public schools. Victoria Prison
and Stonecutters Island Prison were also seriously damaged. The majority of
plants in the Botanical Gardens were destroyed, and the trees in the city were
also pulverised. The streets were blocked by trees that had fallen. Telegraph
stations and gaslights in the city were destroyed and, as a result, the streets were
left with no illumination at night. Devastation filled the City of Victoria, leaving