Central District, as
Victoria City, was the first area of planned
urban development in Hong Kong during the
colonial era. The
British held a land sale in June 1841, six months after the flag was raised at
Possession Point. A total of 51 lots of land were sold to 23 merchant houses to build offices and warehouses. The property buyers included
Dent's,
Jardine's, Russell's and Olyphant's. At the time, the two roads Albany Nullah (now
Garden Road) and Glenealy Nullah (now
Glenealy) were mainly used by the British. The streets later became known as Government Hill. In 1857, the British government expanded Victoria City and divided it into seven districts. Those located in present-day Central and Western are:
Sai Ying Pun,
Sheung Wan,
Tai Ping Shan, Central. The area was essentially a
European area until 1860 when Chinese merchants begin buying up European properties around
Cochrane,
Wellington and
Pottinger Streets. The Central district was the principal European business district, hence the arrival of the first major bank
HSBC. The Western district was the commercial centre for Chinese businesses. When property values in the district rose, a meeting was held in February 1866 to establish a "District Watch Force" to police and protect this specific area. In 1880,
Shek Tong Tsui was established, followed by
Kennedy Town in the early 20th century. By the 1890s the majority of Hong Kong's population was concentrated in the district with about 200,000 residents, mostly in Victoria City. ==Politics==