Harbour Primer

Why the fuss about Victoria Harbour?

Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong's Development

Impacts of Reclamation

Protection of the Harbour Ordinance - what the law can do

However, even the law is insufficient to protect Victoria Harbour

Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong's Development

1. Up until relatively recently, Hong Kong's economy was dominated by the fact that it was a port and trade was its lifeblood. Victoria Harbour had therefore been the centre of the city's economic life.

2. During the 1950s and 1960s, Hong Kong became a manufacturing centre for light industrial goods made for export. From the 1980s, however, production began to shift to the Mainland with Hong Kong evolving into a centre servicing the growing manufacturing base in South China.

3. Harbour front port activities on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon dropped significantly with the growth of containerized shipment and the construction of the container ports at Kwai Chung from the 1970s.

4. With this major change land along the harbour front became available for development. As Hong Kong began to transform itself into a service centre, more land was needed. It was expedient to reclaim Victoria Harbour rather than to consider developing away from the harbour area since the policy of reclamation appeared to upset nobody. Victoria Harbour had no voice to speak for its own protection.

5. Reclamation also generated substantial revenue for the Government who auctioned off the new land. Developing along the extended harbour front leveraged the existing infrastructure, which turned the northern shore of Hong Kong Island into the focus for transport infrastructure throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s.

6. However, there are limits to how far we can pack further developments onto the harbour frontage. Congestion has become a daily occurrence. The environment has degenerated. The cost of transporting commuters by road and rail to the city centre has risen. Moreover, a beautiful and historic landmark has been decimated by poor planning and zoning.

7. Recent assertions by the Government that reclamation has been a key determinant of Hong Kong's success are inaccurate. Growth was generated by Hong Kong's ability to transform itself into a service economy. The Government simply chose to meet the demand for land by harbour reclamation and not by other means, which could have included developing the New Territories or urban regeneration, because reclamation was expedient and until 1995, there was no advocate speaking for Victoria Harbour.