The Northern Shoreline of Hong Kong Island Was Entirely Built on Reclaimed Land

As of 2026, Hong Kong has reclaimed 70 square kilometres (27 square miles) from the sea. To truly put that number into perspective, it is worth bearing in mind that about 30% of the city’s population lives on reclaimed land, and 70% of its commercial activity is carried out upon it.

In this regard, Hong Kong Island is perhaps the region most impacted by successive land reclamations since Great Britain took possession of the island. So much so, in fact, that virtually the entire northern shoreline, stretching from Kennedy Town in the west to Siu Sai Wan in the east, no longer bears any resemblance to the coast first surveyed in 1841.

Immediately after the first plots of land were leased, private landowners began reclaiming the waterfront in present-day Central. Ten years later, the colonial government undertook the first official land reclamation in Sheung Wan. By mixing rubble from the devastating 1851 Fire with soil carved from the hillsides, they created a new strip of land known today as Bonham Strand.

The Praya Reclamation Scheme, spanning from 1889 to 1904, pushed the Central shoreline outward by hundreds of metres, while the post-war population boom later demanded further reclamation between Chai Wan and Siu Sai Wan. The latest—and final—major commercial reclamation occurred between the 1990s and 2000s, delivering the Central and Wan Chai Reclamation, the Central Harbourfront, and the Central–Wan Chai Bypass.

However, in 1997, the Government of Hong Kong passed the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance, establishing a legal presumption against reclamation across Victoria Harbour to permanently prevent the harbour from narrowing further.