Land reclamation (grey area) in Hong Kong. Note that most of the urban area (shown in pink in the map below) of Hong Kong is on the reclaimed land.
The reclamation of land from the ocean has long been used in mountainous Hong Kong to expand the limited supply of usable land with a total of around 60 square kilometres of land created by 1996.[1] The first reclamations can be traced back to the early Western Han dynasty (206 BC – 9 AD), when beaches were turned into fields for salt production. Major land reclamation projects have been conducted since the mid-19th century.[2]
In 1851, a fire broke out on the North side of Queen's Road Central, burning down many buildings on the coast. To treat the large amount of rubble that resulted from the fire, the Government decided to clear it by submerging it into Victoria Harbour and reclaiming land. In 1852, this was complete, and the new road was named Bonham Strand after Sir George Bonham, 3rd Governor of Hong Kong. [3]
Marker in Causeway Bay showing the former location of the coastline
One of the earliest projects, the works were completed in two phases. The second added 50 to 60 acres (24 ha) of land in 1890 during the second phase of construction. It was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken during the Colonial Hong Kong era.[4][5] It significantly expanded the land around Praya Central.
The second phase was between 1900 and 1904, which again pushed the coast from Reclamation Street to today's Ferry Street, between Jordan Road and Mong Kok Road. Most of today's Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei west of Nathan Road was reclaimed. After this, Yau Ma Tei became the center of commercial activity, and Shanghai Street the most bustling street in the area.
[8][9]
The old airport, Kai Tak, was located In Kowloon and part of the land is reclaimed. A section of runway and most parking stands were built on reclaimed land.
The "new" airport, Chek Lap Kok International airport was built on two islands and was opened in 1998. Land was reclaimed to build a third runway and extend the current Terminal 2 in the airport.
(View here)
Several projects in and around Victoria Harbour, constructed for various purposes. This includes transportation improvements such as the Hong Kong MTR Station, Airport Express Railway & Central-Wanchai Bypass, as well as public recreation space such as the Central Harbourfront Event Space, Tamar Park and the Hong Kong Observation Wheel.
In October 2018, a development project was announced with the intention of creating 1700 hectares of land in the form of new islands off the east coast of Lantau, to house an estimated 1.1 million people. The project has an estimated cost of HK$500 billion.[12][13]
Issues
Much reclamation has taken place in prime locations on the waterfront on both sides of Victoria Harbour. This has raised environmental issues of the protection of the harbour which was once the source of prosperity of Hong Kong, traffic congestion in the Central district,[14] as well as the collusion of the Hong Kong Government with the real estate developers in the territory.[15][16]
