The

reclamation of land Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamat ...

from the ocean has long been used in mountainous

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

to expand the limited supply of usable land with a total of around 60 square kilometres of land created by 1996. The first reclamations can be traced back to the early

Western Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a war ...

(206 BC – 9 AD), when beaches were turned into fields for

salt production Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quanti ...

. Major land reclamation projects have been conducted since the mid-19th century.EIA: A survey report of Historical Buildings and Structures within the Project Area of the Central Reclamation Phase III
Chan Sui San Peter for the HK Government, February 2001

Projects

Bonham Strand

Praya Reclamation Scheme (1868-1904)

One of the earliest projects, the works were completed in two phases. The second added 50 to 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. It significantly expanded the land around Praya Central.

Praya East Reclamation Scheme (1921-1931)

Kai Tak Airport extension (1957-1974)

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.

New towns, phases 1-3 (1973-1996)

The

new towns A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

were mostly built on reclaimed land, such as

Tuen Mun Tuen Mun or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the more re ...

Tai Po Tai Po is an area in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It refers to the vicinity of the traditional market towns in the area presently known as Tai Po Old Market or Tai Po Kau Hui () (the original "Tai Po Market") on the north of Lam Tsu ...

Sha Tin Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project. The ne ...

Ma On Shan Ma On Shan may refer to: * Ma On Shan (peak) ( zh, t=馬鞍山, s=马鞍山, l=saddle peak, links=no), a mountain in the New Territories of Hong Kong * Ma On Shan (town), a New Town in the New Territories on the foot of Ma On Shan mountain * Ma On ...

West Kowloon West Kowloon () is the western part of Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong, situated within the Yau Tsim Mong District and Sham Shui Po District. It is bounded by Canton Road to the east, Victoria Harbour to the west and the south, and Jorda ...

, Kwun Tong and

Tseung Kwan O Tseung Kwan O New Town is one of the nine new towns in Hong Kong, built mainly on reclaimed land in the northern half of Junk Bay (known as Tseung Kwan O in Chinese/Cantonese language) in southeastern New Territories, after which it is named. ...

. These were built in a series of three phases.

New International Airport construction (1991-1998)

The "new" airport,

Chek Lap Kok Chek Lap Kok is an island in the western waters of Hong Kong's New Territories. Unlike the smaller Lam Chau, it was only partially leveled when it was assimilated via land reclamation into the island for the current Hong Kong International ...

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.

Central and Wan Chai projects (1993-2018)

Several projects in and around

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental i ...

, 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 Tamar Park () is an urban park in Admiralty, Hong Kong covering around with the design concept of 'perpetual green'. The park occupies 80% of the Tamar site public space and is managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of th ...

and the Hong Kong Observation Wheel.

Disneyland construction (2003-2005)

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (2009-2018)

The bridge project involved the creation of four islands, including one in Hong Kong.

Tung Chung New Town Extension (2017- )

Currently under construction, an expansion of

Tung Chung Tung Chung, meaning " eastern stream", is an area on the northwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. One of the most recent new towns, it was formerly a rural fishing village beside Tung Chung Bay, and along the delta and lower courses of T ...

on the north shore of Lantau island. The project is expected to be completed in 2023.

Hong Kong International Airport Third Runway (2016-2024)

The third

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

and the extension of Terminal 2 in the

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...

is built on reclaimed land.

Lantau Tomorrow Vision (planned)

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 500 billion Hong Kong dollars,

Issues

Much reclamation has taken place in prime locations on the waterfront on both sides of

. 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, as well as the collusion of the Hong Kong Government with the real estate developers in the territory.

Environmental legislation

Hong Kong legislators passed the

Protection of the Harbour Ordinance The Protection of the Harbour Ordinance, Cap. 531 () is an ordinance in Hong Kong Law that aims to limit land reclamation in the surviving waters of Victoria Harbour. Content In section 3, the ordinance states that: *"The harbour is to be pro ...

in 1996 in an effort to safeguard the increasingly threatened

against encroaching

land development Land development is the alteration of landscape in any number of ways such as: * Changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing * Subdividing real estate into lots, typically for the purpose ...

. In a

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...

in January 2004, the Court of Final Appeal stipulated an "overriding public need" test which the government must adhere in order to carry out reclamation at Victoria Harbour.

Gallery

File:ShaTin-ShingMunRiver-EarlyStageOfDevelopment.jpg,

Sha Tin New Town Sha Tin New Town, or known as Sha Tin-Ma On Shan New Town or Sha Tin Town is one of the satellite towns and new towns of Hong Kong. It is within the Sha Tin District, the New Territories. The New Town covers the neighbourhoods such as Sha Tin, ...

under development in the 1980s File:Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport 1971.jpg, Kai Tak Airport in the 1970s, before more reclamation work was undertaken. File:Disneyland Site from the air.jpg, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort under construction (October 2004) File:A bird's eye view of Hong Kong International Airport.JPG, The airport platform of

in 2010

References

External links

Enhancing Land Supply Strategy

Reclamation History

Detailed list of historical land reclamation projects in Hong Kong
* Chen Yu
"Transformation of waterfront space in Asian cities: Macau, Hong Kong, Shanghai"

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

, 2009
"Enhancing Land Supply Strategy: Reclamation Outside Victoria Harbour and Rock Cavern Development"
{{World topic, title =

Land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...

, prefix = Land reclamation in, noredlinks = yes Land reclamation Geography of Hong Kong Coastal construction in Hong Kong