How Hong Kong’s first land reclamation project sprang from a devastating fire
- The British colonial authorities used the debris left by the Sheung Wan blaze in 1851 to extend the shoreline by 50 feet
- The reclamation, the first of many, also gave the impetus for the city’s business elite to build its empires, many of which still reign today
Bonham Strand in Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island is known for its dried seafood, but where it stands was seawater 170 years ago – until a devastating fire in the early days of British colonial rule triggered the city’s first ever reclamation project.
A major blaze in Sheung Wan in 1851 burned down 450 houses, killed two British officers, and over 200 Chinese were reported missing.
The government decided to put the rubble to good use by combining it with debris from hill slopes and depositing it in Victoria Harbour to build a 50-foot wide road by the waterfront. It also gave officials a chance to rebuild the area, known for its densely packed back-to-back tenement houses, which led to poor ventilation and sanitation.
The reclamation project then set off 30 years of bitter disputes between the government and landowners over the need for further reclamation.
As Hong Kong debates the need for a new round of massive reclamation, historian Dr Joseph Ting Sun-pao looks back on how the first ever such project the city mounted was, beneath all the political wrangling, at its core “all about profit”, and an opportunity for British colonisers to create their own business hub and playground.