Kowloon City District (九龍城區) is one of the 18 districts in Hong Kong, is located in central Kowloon, bounded on the west by the East Rail Line railway tracks and Beacon Hill, and on the east by the Lion Rock Tunnel Road, Chuk Yuen Road, Junction Road, Kowloon Walled City Park and the former Kai Tak Airport, and consists of six sub-districts, namely Hung Hom, To Kwa Wan, Ho Man Tin (or Homantin), Kowloon Tong, Kowloon City and Kai Tak. [1]
Traditionally, the eastern and western sides of the Kowloon Peninsula were bounded by railway tracks (the Kowloon-Canton Railway British Section, the present-day MTR East Rail Line), and therefore the Kowloon City District (i.e. Hung Hom, To Kwa Wan, Kowloon Tong, etc.) is considered by many to be part of Kowloon East.
In terms of KMB's service area, Kowloon West and Kowloon East are jointly responsible for the dispatch of vehicles on routes serving the Kowloon City area, as detailed in the relevant section.
History[]
Logo of Kowloon City District
As early as the 15th century, Chinese officials began to operate at the original site of Kowloon Walled City and in 1668, the Kowloon Pier was built on Beacon Hill. By the early Qing Dynasty, the villages in Kowloon City included Kowloon Tsai, Ma Tau Wai, Nga Tsin Long, Kau Pui Shek, Ma Tau Chung, Kau Pui Lung, Ma Tau Kok, To Kwa Wan, Yi Wong Tin Tsuen, Hok Yuen, San Wai and Lo Lung Hang Tsuen. Most of the villagers are engaged in agriculture and fishing, while some of them also rely on salt production and quarrying.
Hong Kong Island became a British colony in 1842, and the Qing government expanded Kowloon Floods into Kowloon Walled City in 1847. In 1898, under the Sino-British Treaty on the Expansion of the Boundary of Hong Kong, the Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories became a colony, but the Kowloon Walled City was still under the jurisdiction of the Qing Garrison, thanks to the efforts of Qing diplomats; the British invaded the Walled City in May 1899 and expelled the Qing officials from the City, and the Walled City became deserted for a while, with almost nobody living in it.
After the Second World War, street sleepers began to gather in the Walled City in Kowloon, and the Chinese government took this opportunity to declare its sovereignty over the Walled City, but it was never recognised by the British government. Since then, the Hong Kong Police Force and the Hong Kong Government have no right to enter the area. Kowloon Walled City has become a slum area that is a hotbed of crime and a unregulated zone by three parties that the Hong Kong Government dares not regulate, the British Government does not want to regulate, and the mainland Chinese Government cannot regulate.
The Kai Tak Airport near Kowloon Walled City, named after the old name of Kai Tak Bund, began operation in 1925. The new runway came into service in 1958, and since then the government has been expanding the airport to become a modern international airport, writing a glorious page in Hong Kong's aviation history.
To Kwa Wan is not far away from Kai Tak Airport. Since the 1920's, different manufacturers started to inject capital and set up factories in To Kwa Wan. In the 1950s and 1960s, To Kwa Wan entered the golden age of industrial development, with yarn factories, wood factories, gunpowder factories, monosodium glutamate (MSG) factories, battery factories, plastic moulding factories, as well as cow barns and gas factories, making the air in the area stale and the living environment unsatisfactory.
On 14 January 1987, the Chinese and British sides reached an agreement on the demolition of the Kowloon Walled City and the in-situ construction of a park, and on 28 November 1991, the Hong Kong Government carried out the first compulsory resumption of the buildings, and by April 1994, the demolition was completed. The construction of the park commenced in May and was completed in August of the following year.
Kowloon City is home to many famous schools, including La Salle College, Diocesan Boys' School, Maryknoll Convent School, Heep Yunn Middle School, Pui Ching Middle School and other prestigious schools in the district, such as Wah Ying Secondary School. The campuses of the Hong Kong Baptist University and the Hong Kong Metropolitan University are located in Kowloon Tong and Ho Man Tin respectively.
The opening of the Hong Kong International Airport in July 1998 brought an end to the mission of Kai Tak Airport. After many years of discussion[2][3], a new development programme was initiated at the old airport, and now there is a cruise terminal, an MTR Kai Tak Station and a number of housing estates (Kai Ching Estate, Tak Long Estate, etc.) in the Kai Tak Development Area.
Street/road structure[]
The external backbone roads in Kowloon City District include Boundary Street, Prince Edward Road West, Argyle Street, Prince Edward Road East, Waterloo Road, Junction Road, Princess Margaret Road, and so on. Major roads in the district include Fat Kwong Street in Ho Man Tin, Wuhu Street in Hung Hom, To Kwa Wan Road in To Kwa Wan, Ma Tau Wai Road in Ma Tau Wai and Lancashire Road in Kowloon Tong.
Boundary Street and Prince Edward Road West are parallel roads with one-way eastbound and one-way westbound traffic respectively, which converge at St Teresa's Hospital. The Kowloon Hospital and the Hong Kong Eye Hospital are located at the eastern part of Argyle Street. These roads are lined with low-density luxury flats, which is very different from places like Kowloon City and To Kwa Wan.
Waterloo Road north of Argyle Street and Princess Margaret Road are both sections of Route 1, passing through Kowloon Tong and Ho Man Tin, and are the main roads connecting the Lion Rock Tunnel and the Cross-Harbour Tunnel. The Kai Tak Tunnel, the East Kowloon Corridor and the section of Chatham Road North south of the latter form part of Route 5.
The area to the east of Mong Kok East Station and the East Rail Line tracks is within the Ho Man Tin area and is therefore part of the Kowloon City District, which is regarded by many as part of the Yau Tsim Mong district, with Embankment Road, Knight Street and the Diocesan Boys' School in this area, of which Embankment Road is regarded by the Kowloon Motor Bus Company Limited (KMB) and the Citybus Limited (CTB) as part of the Yau Tsim Mong District.
Six major zones[]
| Zone informations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Zone | Area | Major road(s) |
| Kowloon City | Kowloon Walled City area | Junction Road, Boundary Street, Prince Edward Road West, Prince Edward Road East, Kowloon City Roundabout |
| Kowloon Tong | East of East Rail Line railway tracks, north of Boundary Street, west of Junction Road | Waterloo Road, Junction Road, Lancashire Road |
| Ho Man Tin | East of East Rail Line railway tracks, north of Boundary Street, Waterloo Road, Argyle Street and Tin Kwong Road | Princess Margaret Road, Fat Kwong Street, Chung Hau Street, Waterloo Road, Boundary Street, Prince Edward Road West, Argyle Street |
| Hung Hom | East of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Chong Road, north of Ko Shan Road Park, Kiang Hsi Street and Bailey Street | Chatham Road North, Ma Tau Wai Road (lower road), Wuhu Street, Hung Hom Road |
| To Kwa Wan | South of Sung Wong Toi Road, north of Kiang Hsi Street and Bailey Street, along the eastern coast of Kowloon City | Ma Tau Wai Road, To Kwa Wan Road, East Kowloon Corridor, Ma Tau Chung Road, Mok Cheong Street, Ma Tau Kok Road |
| Kai Tak | New development areas after demolition of old Kai Tak Airport | Shing Fung Road, Shing Cheong Road, Shing Kai Road, Muk Hung Street |
Bus and minibus termini[]
| Bus and minibus termini information | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone | Name | Location | Nature | |
| Kowloon City | Kowloon Hospital | Inside Kowloon Hospital | Green minibus (GMB) Terminus | |
| Kowloon City (Lung Kong Road) Minibus Terminus | Lung Kong Road near Prince Edward Road West | Public light bus (PLB) terminus | ||
| Kowloon Tong | Kowloon Tong (Suffolk Road) Public Transport Interchange | Outside Kowloon Tong Station Exits D and E | Public transport interchange | |
| Broadcast Drive Bus Terminus | Broadcast Drive near RTHK Broadcasting House | Bus terminus | ||
| Broadcast Drive (Fessenden Road) Minibus Terminus | Broadcast Road outside Jumbo Court | GMB terminus | ||
| Ho Man Tin | Ho Man Tin Estate Public Transport Interchange | Outside King Man House Ho Man Tin Estate | Public transport interchange | |
| Oi Man Estate Bus Terminus | Outside Oi Man Plaza | Bus terminus | ||
| Ho Man Tin Station Public Transport Interchange | Outside Ho Man Tin Station Exit B2 | Public transport interchange | ||
| Ho Man Tin (Sheung Wo Street) Minibus Terminus | Outside Wah Ying Secondary School | GMB terminus | ||
| Waterloo Hill (Hok Yu Lane) Minibus Terminus | Hok Yu Lane outside Happy Court | GMB terminus | ||
| Hung Hom | Hung Hom (Hung Luen Road) Public Transport Interchange | Base of Kerry Hotel Hong Kong | Bus terminus GMB terminus | |
| Whampoa Garden Public Transport Interchange | Base of Whampoa Plaza beside Whampoa Station Exit D2 |
Bus terminus GMB terminus | ||
| Laguna Verde Public Transport Interchange | Base of Phase 3 Laguna Verde | Bus terminus | ||
| Tak Man Street | Whampoa Estate, Tak Man Street Near Whampoa Station Exit A |
GMB terminus | ||
| Man Tai Street | Whampoa Estate, Tak Man Street Beside Whampoa Station Exit A |
GMB terminus | ||
| Hung Hom (Bulkeley Street) Minibus Terminus | Bulkeley Street near Whampoa Estate | PLB terminus | ||
| Hung Hom (Station Lane) Minibus Terminus | Station Lane near Ma Tau Wai Road | PLB terminus | ||
| Decommissioned bus terminus and GMB terminus | ||||
| To Kwa Wan | Kowloon City Ferry Public Transport Interchange | Outside Kowloon City Ferry Pier | Public transport interchange | |
| Wyler Gardens Minibus Terminus | Wyler Gardens, Wai King Street | GMB terminus | ||
| To Kwa Wan (Chi Kiang Street) Minibus Terminus | I-Feng Mansions, Chi Kiang Street | GMB terminus | ||
| To Kwa Wan (Ko Shan Theatre) Minibus Terminus | Ko Shan Road near Ko Shan Theatre | GMB terminus | ||
| Lok Man Sun Chuen Minibus Terminus | Maidstone Road | GMB terminus | ||
| Kowloon City (Shing Tak Street) Bus Terminus | Shing Tak Street outside Magnolia House Ma Tau Wai Estate | Bus terminus | ||
| To Kwa Wan (Tam Kung Road) Minibus Terminus | Tam Kung Road | PLB terminus | ||
| To Kwa Wan (Pak Tai Street) Minibus Terminus | Pak Tai Street | PLB terminus | ||
| Kai Tak | Kai Tak (Tak Long Estate) Bus Terminus | Shing Kai Road outside Tak Long Estate | Bus terminus | |
| Kai Tak (Kai Ching Estate) Bus Terminus | Opposite to Hong Ching House Kai Ching Estate | Bus terminus | ||
| Kai Tak Cruise Terminal Bus Terminus | Ground floor of Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, 33 Shing Fung Road | Bus terminus GMB terminus | ||
| Victoria Skye | Muk On Street outside Star Waves Block 5 of Victoria Skye | Bus terminus | ||
| Concorde Road Bus Terminus | Concorde Road outside Inland Revenue Centre | Bus terminus GMB terminus | ||
| East Kowloon Regional Police Headquarters | Concorde Road outside East Kowloon Regional Police Headquarters | Bus terminus | ||
Bus routes[]
Template:List of Kowloon City District Bus Routes Template:List of Kowloon City District GMB Routes
Major jurisdictional issues of the KMB depots[]
KMB has only two whole-day cross-harbour routes with Kowloon City as their terminus. Route 109 is operated entirely by Lai Chi Kok Depot (L), while Route 115 is jointly operated by Kowloon Bay Depot (K) and Lai Chi Kok Depot (L), with the former deploying six vehicles and the latter deploying one peak hour shift vehicle only. This proves that Kowloon City District is under the joint management of Lai Chi Kok Depot and Kowloon Bay Depot, which is different from other districts where the "one-district-one-depot system" is practised.
In addition, before the extension of Routes 5A and 108 to Kai Tak (Kai Ching Estate) and Kai Yip respectively, the two routes were all serviced by Lai Chi Kok Depot, but now they are under the control of Kowloon Bay Depot.
Notes and References[]
- ↑ 《龍城 • 濃情》, Kowloon City District Council, August 2019
- ↑ Civil Aviation Department Official Website: Kai Tak Airport
- ↑ Official Website of the Civil Engineering and Development Department: Kai Tak Development Project
External Links[]
- Official Website of the District Council: Kowloon City District Highlights
- Home Affairs Department Official Website: Kowloon City District
- Official Website of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department: Kowloon Walled City Park
- 2019 District Council Constituency Boundary Map: Kowloon City District
- 2015 District Council Constituency Boundary Map: Kowloon City District
- 2011 District Council Constituency Boundary Map: Kowloon City District
- 2007 District Council Constituency Boundary Map: Kowloon City District
Template:Administrative Districts
Hung Hom, Hung Hom District, Ma Tau Wai, Ma Tau Chung and Ma Tau Kok