Sham Shui Po District

This article is about the administrative district. For the area, see Sham Shui Po.

Sham Shui Po District is one of 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is the second poorest district by income in Hong Kong, with a predominantly working-class population of 405,869 in 2016 and the lowest median household income of all districts.^[3] Sham Shui Po has long been home to poorer new immigrants from China. It also saw the birth of public housing in Hong Kong, as the government sought to resettle those displaced by a devastating fire in its slums. Sham Shui Po also hosted a Vietnamese refugee camp during the influx of migration in the aftermath of the Vietnam War in the 1970s.

Sham Shui Po 深水埗區
District
Sham Shui Po District
Day view of the Sham Shui Po District skyline
Location of Sham Shui Po within Hong Kong
Coordinates: 22°19′51″N 114°09′44″E
Statutorily-defined area	Kowloon (Stonecutters' Island), New Kowloon (mainland)
Region	Hong Kong (special administrative region)
Country	China
Constituencies	21
Government
• District Council chairman	Chum Tak Shing[needs update] (ADPL)
• District Council Vice-chairwoman	Janet Ng
• District Officer	Damian Kwok-hung Lee
Area
• Total	9.48 km2 (3.66 sq mi)
Population  (2016[1])
• Total	405,869
• Density	43,000/km2 (110,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+8 (Hong Kong Time)
Largest neighbourhood by population	Sham Shui Po (60,161 – 2016 est)[2]
Location of district office and district council	303 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Sham Shui Po

Sham Shui Po District
Traditional Chinese	深水埗區
Simplified Chinese	深水埗区
Cantonese Yale	Shāmshéuibóu kēui
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shēnshuǐbù qū Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Shāmshéuibóu kēui Jyutping Sam1seoi2bou2 keoi1 IPA [sɐm˥.sɵɥ˧˥.pɔw˧˥ kʰɵɥ˥]

The district covers the Shek Kip Mei, Sham Shui Po, Cheung Sha Wan, Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon Tsai,^[clarify] So Uk, Un Chau [yue], Tai Wo Ping [yue] and Yau Yat Chuen areas of New Kowloon, and Stonecutters Island of Kowloon.

Administration

Sham Shui Po District administers:

• Cheung Sha Wan – Between Tonkin Street and Kom Tsun Street / Butterfly Valley Road.
• Western Part of Kowloon Tong – West of the route of East Rail line, north of Boundary Street and east of Tai Hang Tung Road
• Sham Shui Po – Between Tonkin Street and Boundary Street
• Shek Kip Mei – East of Tai Po Road, North of Boundary Street, west of Tai Hang Tung Road.
• So Uk – Between Po On Road and Ching Cheung Road / Tai Po Road.
• Stonecutters Island – Excluding the reclaimed lands for Container Terminal 8 which is located in north of Hing Wah Street West and Ngong Shuen Chau Viaduct.

Demographics and housing

Buildings in Sham Shui Po

Fuk Wing Street, looking south east from Pei Ho Street

Kweilin Street, Sham Shui Po

Sham Shui Po was already a densely populated district in the 1950s and 1960s. It is poverty-stricken, having the lowest median monthly domestic household income among the 18 districts. It has the highest percentage of elderly people over 65 years. The percentage of new immigrants is also very high. Living conditions of grass-roots families in this district remain a social issue.^[4]

Mei Foo Sun Chuen in Lai Chi Kok, built in 1968–1978, was Hong Kong's first large-scale private housing estate. It comprises eight phases with a total of 99 blocks.^[5]

Public Housing

Main article: List of public housing estates in Hong Kong

There are 18 public housing estates in the Sham Shui Po District, divided into sub-districts:

• Cheung Sha Wan
  • Cheung Sha Wan Estate
  • Fortune Estate
  • Hoi Lai Estate
  • Hoi Tat Estate
  • Hoi Ying Estate
  • Lai Tsui Court
  • Lei Cheng Uk Estate
  • So Uk Estate
  • Un Chau Estate
• Sham Shui Po
  • Cronin Garden
  • Fu Cheong Estate
  • Lai Kok Estate
  • Lai On Estate
  • Nam Cheong Estate
  • Wing Cheong Estate
• Shek Kip Mei
  • Chak On Estate
  • Nam Shan Estate
  • Pak Tin Estate
  • Shek Kip Mei Estate
  • Tai Hang Tung Estate
  • Tai Hang Sai Estate

Education

See also: List of schools in Sham Shui Po District

The main campus of City University of Hong Kong, was located in Tat Chee Avenue,^[6] Sham Shui Po District.^[7]

Transport

There are four railway lines serving Sham Shui Po District:

MTR

People outside Sham Shui Po MTR station.

• Kwun Tong line: Shek Kip Mei
• Tsuen Wan line: Sham Shui Po, Cheung Sha Wan, Lai Chi Kok, Mei Foo.
• Tung Chung line: Nam Cheong.
• Tuen Ma line: Mei Foo, Nam Cheong.

Buses

There are also various bus routes serving the district. Most of them are operated by Kowloon Motor Bus, and some by Citybus. These two companies also jointly operate some routes, most of these crossing the harbour to the Hong Kong Island.

• Kowloon Motor Bus: 1, 1A, 2, 2A, 2B, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2X, 6, 6C, 6D, 6F, 6P, 6X, 12, 12A, 12P, 13P, 18, 30, 30X, 31B, 32, 33, 33A, 33B, 35A, 35X, 36A, 36B, 36X, 37, 38, 38A, 38P, 40, 40A, 40P, 42, 42A, 42C, 43C, 44, 45, 46, 46X, 52X, 58X, 59X, 60X, 61X, 62P, 62X, 63X, 66X, 67X, 68X, 69C, 69X, 72, 81, 86, 86A, 86C, 87B, 87D, 87E, 98C, 98S, 203C, 203S, 214, 214P, 230X, 234C, 234D, 234X, 238X, 240X, 242X, 252X, 258A, 258D, 258P, 258S, 259C, 259D, 265B, 268A, 268C, 269C, 270B, 270D, 272E, 272P, 281A, 286C, 286P, 286X, 290, 290A, 290B, 290E, 290X, 296C, 296P, 298C, 298X, N214, N273, N241, N252, N260, N269, N290, X6C, X42C
• Citybus: 20, 20A, 50, 55, 79P, 79X, 701, 701A, 701S, 702, 702A, 702B, 702S, 793, 795, 795P, 795X, A20, A21, A23, A26, A26P, A29, A29P, E21, E21A, E21C, E22, E22A, E22C, E22P, E22S, E22X, N21, N21A, N26, N29, NA20, NA29
• Cross Harbour Tunnel: 102, 102P, 102R, 104, 112, 117, 118, 118P, 171, 171A, 171P, 904, 905, 905A, 905P, 914, 914P, 914X, 936, 936A, 970, 970X, 971, N118, N122, N171, N368, X970

See also

• Politics of Hong Kong
• Sham Shui Po SA