Everything about The Central And Western District totally explained
The
Central and Western District is one of the
18 districts of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the
People's Republic of China. It had a population of 261,884 in
2001. The district has the most educated residents with the second highest income and the third lowest population.
Central is the central business district and the core urban area of
Hong Kong. Western is one of the areas of early development in Hong Kong. Both are located in the northern part of
Hong Kong Island.
History
Central District was the first area of planned
urban development in Hong Kong. The site of
Victoria City was also the capital during the
colonial era. The
British held a land sale in June
1841, 6 months after the flag was raised at
Possession Point. 51 lots of land were sold to 23 merchant houses to build offices and warehouses. Some of the property buyers included
Dent's,
Jardine's, Russell's and Olyphant's. At the time, the 2 roads Albany Nullah (now
Garden rd) and Glenealy Nullah (now
Glenealy rd) were mainly reserved for British use. The streets later became known as Government Hill.
In
1857, the British government expanded Victoria City and divided it into seven districts. The ones located in present-day Central and Western are:
Sai Ying Pun,
Sheung Wan,
Tai Ping Shan, Central. The area was essentially a
European area until
1860 when Chinese merchants begin buying up European properties around
Cochrane st,
Wellington st and
Pottinger st. The Central district was the principal European business district, hence the arrival of the first large scale bank
HSBC. The Western district was the commercial centre for Chinese businesses. When the value of the district raised, a meeting was held in February
1866 to establish a "District Watch Force" to police and protect this specific area.
In
1880,
Shek Tong Tsui was established, followed by
Kennedy Town in the 20th century. By 1890s the majority of Hong Kong's population was concentrated in the district with about 200,000 residents, mostly in Victoria City.
Politics
District councils in Hong Kong are primarily consultative bodies of the
HKSAR government with very limited powers, primarily restricted to building and maintaining parks, open areas, recreational and cultural activities and tourist promotion.
District council elections are held every four years; the last one was held on
November 23 2003 for terms beginning
January 1,
2004. 15 constituency members are elected while 4 are appointed by the government. The constituency areas are smaller than the commonly used geographic areas, which are in turn based on the old
1857 and
1880 divisions.
Current members are:
CHAN Tak-chor (陳特楚)(chairman) (Liberal)
WU Chor-nam (胡楚南)(vice-chaiman) (appointed)
CHAN Chit-kwai, Stephen (陳捷貴)
LAM Kin-lai (DAB) (appointed)
CHAN Choi-hi, Dominic (陳財喜)
CHENG Lai-king (鄭麗瓊)(Democratic Party)
LIN Mark (Liberal)
CHUNG Yam-cheung (DAB)(appointed)
TAI Cheuk-yin, Leslie Spencer
HO Chun-ki (何俊麒)(Democratic Party)
Victor YEUNG (楊浩然)(Democratic Party)
Cyd HO Sau-lan (former legislator) (The Frontier)
YEUNG Wai-foon (DAB)
KAM Nai-wai(甘乃威) (Democratic Party)
YOUNG Siu-chuen, Albert (appointed)
KWOK Ka-ki (郭家麒)
YUEN Bun-keung (阮品強)(Democratic Party)
LAI Kwok-hung (黎國雄)
Demographics
Hong Kong's 2001 census put the total population of the district at 261,884, with 89,545 households. Among the 18 districts, Central and Western has the second highest median household income in the territory (HK$25,350 per month, behind only Wan Chai District, and is at a par with Wan Chai in median monthly per capita income, at HK$13,000 per month. In terms of average size of households, it's third smallest at 2.8 persons, behind only Wan Chai and Yau Tsim Mong District, at 2.7 each.
Geography and political subdivisions
The district is located at, based on the location of the General Post Office). With an area of 12.4 km², the district occupies the northwestern portion of Hong Kong Island. It is surrounded by Wan Chai District on the east, Southern District on the south, and Victoria harbour in the north. The district also encompasses Green Island and Little Green Island, two uninhabited islands to the west of Hong Kong Island.
Areas from west to east along Victoria Harbour are: Kennedy Town, Sai Ying Pun, Sheung Wan, Central, Admiralty.
Neighbourhoods within the district are listed from east to west.
Admiralty
Queensway
Central
Central is the business centre of Hong Kong, and many multinational financial services corporations have their headquarters there. The Government Hill, the site of the government headquarters, is also in Central.
Central mid-levels escalator
The Central-Mid-levels escalator in Hong Kong is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. The system is 800 meters long, connecting Des Voeux Road Central, in Central with Conduit Road in the Mid-levels, passing through narrow streets in Soho.
The escalator runs downhill from 6 am to 10 am and uphill from 10.20 am to 12.00 am (midnight) everyday. Apart from its significance in transport linkage, it's also a tourist attraction, with many restaurants, bars, and shops lining its route.
Bank of China Tower
Bank of China Tower in Central houses the headquarters of BOCHK. Designed by I. M. Pei, the 70 storey building's height is 315 meters with two masts reaching 369 meters. Construction began in 1985 and the building was completed in 1989. It was the first building outside the United States to exceed 1,000 feet and to exceed 300 metres. It was the tallest building in Hong Kong and Asia from 1989 to 1992, when the nearby, taller Central Plaza was completed.
City Hall
The garden at the north-western side of the complex includes a memorial to those killed in Hong Kong during World War II.
Chinese People's Liberation Army Forces Hong Kong Building
The funnel-shaped Chinese People's Liberation Army Forces Hong Kong Building (formerly, and still commonly known as the Prince of Wales Building) housed the headquarters of the British garrison in Hong Kong until the territory's handover to the People's Republic of China on June 30, 1997. It now houses the local garrison of the People's Liberation Army and is formally known as Central Barracks, in line with PLA convention for naming barracks after the name of the locality.
Other landmarks
Cenotaph, Hong Kong
Chater Garden
Chinese People's Liberation Army Forces Hong Kong Building (formerly the Prince of Wales Building)
Edinburgh Place, Hong Kong – including Queen's Pier and the Star Ferry pier
Exchange Square
Former Supreme Court Building
Harcourt Park
Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens
Hong Kong Club
Hong Kong Park
HSBC Hong Kong headquarters building
International Finance Centre
Jardine House
Lan Kwai Fong
Legislative Council building
Lippo Centre
Old Bank of China Building
Peak Tram terminus
St. John's Cathedral, Hong Kong
St. Joseph Church, Hong Kong
St. Paul's Church, Hong Kong
St. Paul's Co-educational College
Soho
Statue Square
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Hong Kong
Union Church, Hong Kong
Mid-levels
Government House
Sai Ying Pun
Sai Ying Pun Community Complex
Sheung Wan
The Center
Secondary schools
Arranged by alphabetical order of their full names in each category.
Government-administered schools
King's College (External Link
)
Aided schools
Caritas St. Francis Secondary School (External Link)
Lok Sin Tong Leung Kau Kui College (External Link)
Raimondi College (External Link)
St. Clare's Girls' School (External Link)
St. Joseph's College (External Link)
St. Louis School (External Link)
St. Stephen's Church College (External Link)
St. Stephen's Girls' College (External Link)
Ying Wa Girls' School (External Link)
Schools under Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS)
Hon Wah Middle School (External Link),(External Link)
St. Margaret's Girls' College, Hong Kong (External Link)
St. Paul's Co-educational College (External Link)
St. Paul's College (External Link)
International schools
Carmel School (External Link)
German Swiss International School (External Link)
Island School (External Link) (under funding of English Schools Foundation, subsidized by government)
Sear Rogers International School, Hong Kong Island (External Link)
Vocational and night schools (privately-funded)
Sacred Heart Canossian College of Commerce (External Link)
St. Paul's Secondary Evening School
Tertiary institutions
The University of Hong Kong
Caritas Francis Hsu CollegeFurther Information
Get more info on 'Central And Western District'.
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