West Kowloon
West Kowloon (Chinese: 西九龍) is a part of Kowloon, Hong Kong situated within the Yau Tsim Mong District. It is bounded by Canton Road to the east, Victoria Harbour to the west and the south, and Jordan Road to the north. Further to the north, the area extends to Tai Kok Tsui to the west of the West Kowloon Expressway. Olympic and Kowloon stations are within the area.
It is principally a stretch of reclaimed 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.
Structures
Existing
- West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade
- West Kowloon Corridor - a bypass connecting Lai Chi Kok Road with the Gascoigne Road Flyover in Yau Ma Tei
- Western Harbour Crossing - Hong Kong's third harbour crossing, the Kowloon portal of which is located within West Kowloon
- Kowloon Station and Austin Station of MTR
- International Commerce Centre - the current tallest building in Hong Kong
Under planning
- West Kowloon Cultural District - proposal for a leisure and cultural district
- Central Kowloon Route Yau Ma Tei interchange
Projects
Realised or in progress
Commercial projects include International Commerce Centre, a 484 m (1,588 ft.) skyscraper which is part of the Union Square project.
Residential projects which have been realised in the sector include The Waterfront (2000), Sorrento (2003), the tallest residential building in Hong Kong, The Harbourside (2003), and The Arch (2005), The Cullinan (2008). The above all sit atop Kowloon MTR station, a station on the Tung Chung line and Airport Express line. The shopping-mall Elements started operating on 1 October 2007.
Plots auctioned
In August 2005, two neighbouring sites near Central Park and Park Avenue were triggered for auction, and were subsequently acquired by a joint venture of Sino Land, Chinese Estates Holdings and Nan Fung Development.[1]
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.[2] 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.[3]
References
- ^ Raymond Wang and Danny Chung, West Kowloon braces for battle, The Standard, 4 May 2007
- ^ Raymond Wang and Danny Chung, Low-end $4b win, The Standard, 9 May 2007
- ^ Olga Wong, "Call for law against 'wall effect' fails", South China Morning Post, 10 May 2007
