| West Kowloon | |||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 西九龍 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 西九龙 | ||||||||||
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West Kowloon (Chinese:西九龍), named afterWest Kowloon Reclamation Project as a part ofAirport Core Programme, is the western part ofKowloon Peninsula inHong Kong, situated within theYau Tsim Mong District andSham Shui Po District. Thereclamation spanned from mid-1990s to mid-2003,[1] but major part was completed in 1990s. It represents the new coast area facingVictoria Harbour andWest Kowloon Cultural District is its focal point. Multiple railway stations, namelyNam Cheong,Olympic,Austin,Kowloon andHong Kong West Kowloon stations, are within the area.
Before the 1990s reclamation, the name of West Kowloon were also used to refer western part of Kowloon, such asWest Kowloon Corridor and West Kowloon Area Traffic Control System.[2] The area referred to could change over time and have different usages by departments. Inlegislative elections, it is Kowloon West and its area is changed frequently.
For the reclamation, many of government projects named after West Kowloon, such asWest Kowloon Waterfront Promenade, Hong Kong West Kowloon railway station and West Kowloon Cultural District lays in the area bounded byCanton Road to the east,Victoria Harbour to the west and the south, andJordan Road to the north, overlapping withFerry Point or Austin. West Kowloon Cultural District, a tourist hotspot, got much attention as the representative of West Kowloon.
But West Kowloon spans much further north and ends inStonecutters Island, includingYau Ma Tei,Mong Kok,Tai Kok Tsui,Sham Shui Po,Cheung Sha Wan andLai Chi Kok roughly on the shore side of theWest Kowloon Highway. Property agents branded four private housing estate projects,Banyan Garden, Liberte, AquaMarine and The Pacifica, in Cheung Sha Wan asWest Kowloon Four Little Dragons (西九四小龍).[3][4] Another example is fromEnvironmental Protection Department that West Kowloon Transfer Station is located on the reclamation next to Stonecutters Island.[5] Also,West Kowloon Government Offices situates on the reclamation next to Yau Ma Tei,[6] andWest Kowloon Law Courts Building next to Cheung Sha Wan.
It is principally a stretch ofreclaimed land, which was subsequently developed in the late 20th century. It has been zoned for mixed commercial, residential and leisure development, and was almost doubled in size with a large reclamation scheme as part of the Airport Core Programme.
Commercial projects includeInternational Commerce Centre, a 484-metre (1,588 ft) skyscraper which is part of theUnion Square project.
Residential projects which have been realised in the sector includeThe Waterfront (2000),Sorrento (2003),The Harbourside (2003), andThe Arch (2005), andThe Cullinan (2008, the tallest residential building in Hong Kong). The above all sit atopKowloon MTR station, a station on theTung Chung line andAirport Express line. The shopping-mallElements started operating on 1 October 2007.
In August 2005, two neighbouring sites near Central Park and Park Avenue were triggered for auction, and were subsequently acquired by a joint venture ofSino Land,Chinese Estates Holdings andNan Fung Development.[7]
In May 2007, a site bounded by Hoi Wang Road, Yan Cheung Road and Yau Cheung Road was won by a consortium comprising Sino Land, Chinese Estates Holdings, K Wah International and Nan Fung Development, for a bid of HK$4 billion.[8] Following the successful auction of the site, some legislators called for a law to stop developers from constructing tall buildings which maximise good views at the expense of air flow in densely populated areas, but the bid failed.[9]
22°18′13″N114°09′36″E / 22.3036°N 114.1600°E /22.3036; 114.1600
Urban areas of Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories | |||||||||||
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| MHong Kong1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9a,10,11,12,14,15,16 |
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| MKowloonKL,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9a,10,11,12,14,15,16 |
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| MNew KowloonNKL,2,3,4,5,6,7,9a,10,11,12,14,15,16 |
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| New Territories |
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Official place names are summarized from "Geoinfo Map" of Government ofHong Kong Special Administrative Region, "Hong Kong Guide" ofLands Department, "Hong Kong Guide Book" of Universal Publications Ltd. and "Areas and Districts" ofRating and Valuation Department. M：Narrow meaning of urban areas KL:Kowloon Peninsula at the south ofBoundary Street NKL: Former New Territories area at the north of Boundary Street and at the south ofLion Rock 1: Common definition (1) 2: Common definition (2) 3: Common definition (3) 4: Areas not adopting small house concessionary right ofindigenous inhabitants 5: Jurisdiction area of formerUrban Council 6: Definition of "Metropolitan Area" ofPlanning Department 7: Jurisdiction area ofUrban Renewal Authority 8: Unique operating area ofurban taxis 9: "Urban" (9a) and "Extended Urban" (9b) areas defined byHong Kong Housing Authority 10: Definition of Urbanrates 11: Hospital cluster belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 12: Police region belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 13: Regions having 999-year land lease 14:Geographical Constituency inHong Kong Legislative Council belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 15:Regional Education Office belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon 16:Primary One Admission School Net belongs to Hong Kong or Kowloon | |||||||||||