New Kowloon

History

By the Convention of Peking in 1860, the territory of British-owned Kowloon was defined as area on the Kowloon Peninsula south of a line which later became Boundary Street (known as Kowloon, inclusive of Stonecutters Island), which was ceded by the Qing Empire (Ch'ing Empire, Manchu Empire) to the United Kingdom under the Convention.

On the other hand, the territory north of Boundary Street (later known as New Kowloon) remained part of Qing Empire until it was leased as part of the New Territories to the UK in 1898 for 99 years under the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory (also known as the Second Convention of Peking). The area of New Kowloon was defined in statutory law first in November 1900Plan of New Kowloon, signed by the Director of Public Works and countersigned by the Governor and deposited in the Land Office of the Colony, and deposited at the Magistracy and at the Office of the Colonial Secretary according to the New Territories (Extension of Laws) Ordinance 1900 (and referred to as such) and again in December 1937 For most part the northern boundary of the area was defined by the 500 feet (152 metres) contour. In practice, nevertheless, both the areas to the south and to the north of Boundary Street (i.e. both Kowloon and New Kowloon), from the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east to Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Lai Chi Kok Bay in the west, are collectively known as "Kowloon". For example, a postal address in Kwun Tong will identify "Kowloon" as its regional destination, even though it is technically in New Kowloon and not part of Kowloon as statutorily defined.

Current situation

In modern-day conversations, the term "New Kowloon" is now rarely heard in Hong Kong. New Kowloon is no longer regarded as part of the New Territories, but as a part of the Kowloon urban area beyond Boundary Street. Nevertheless, the legal definitions of Kowloon, New Kowloon and New Territories remain unchanged—New Kowloon has remained legally part of the New Territories instead of Kowloon. On 1 July 1997, the territories on both sides of Boundary Street (ceded and leased respectively) were transferred to China, along with the rest of Hong Kong.

However, the designation "New Kowloon" still has some legal implications. Almost all lands of Hong Kong are government land (known as crown land in Commonwealth countries and before 1997 in Hong Kong), while all crown leases (now known as government leases in Hong Kong) of New Kowloon and New Territories lands were to expire on 27 June 1997, but were automatically extended to 30 June 2047 due to the Sino-British Joint Declaration. This renewal implies that, all privately owned land leases of New Kowloon, has to pay government rent (crown rent in Commonwealth countries) as leases in the rest of the New Territories, and unlike the rest of the Kowloon. Most land leases in Kowloon proper (i.e. south of Boundary Street) are not required to pay the land rent to the government, unless they are new leases, or are old leases having been renewed and such clauses have been inserted in the renewed lease contract.

The land reclaimed from the Kowloon Bay water body, such as Kai Tak, are also referred as part of New Kowloon in land leases, although these lots do not appear to be included in the 1937 map.

References

References

5. [https://oelawhk.lib.hku.hk/archive/files/835dad6412b236407270aa8064c67dde.pdf#https://oelawhk.lib.hku.hk/items/show/733 New Territories (Extension of Laws) Ordinance 1900, Ordinance No. 8 of 1900]
6. [https://www.legco.gov.hk/1927/h270901.pdf Hong Kong Legislative Council]
7. [https://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/AA/00/00/04/37/00002/pdf.pdf Administrative Reports for the Year 1909]
8. [https://www.legco.gov.hk/1930/h300313.pdf Hong Kong Legislative Council]
9. [https://www.legco.gov.hk/1924/h240828.pdf Hong Kong Legislative Council]
10. [https://www.legco.gov.hk/1937/h370728.pdf Hong Kong Legislative Council]
11. "HK Maps".
12. "HK Maps".
13. "HK Maps".
14. [https://www.legco.gov.hk/1937/h371215.pdf Hong Kong Legislative Council]
15. Sched 5 to the IGCO
16. [http://www.somanhing.com/gotowalk/history/newkowloon.pdf#page=2 Plan marked “New Kowloon” dated 8 December 1937, signed by the Director of Public Works, countersigned by the Governor and deposited in the Land Registry.]
17. Schedules 4, 5 and 5A, Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (IGCO), HK Law Cap. 1
18. "Sino-British Joint Declaration".
19. (1 August 2019). "Government Rent". Rating and Valuation Department.
20. (23 October 2020). "Government to sell site in Kai Tak by public tender". Hong Kong Government.
21. https://hos.housingauthority.gov.hk/mini-site/hos2022/common/pdf/DMC_Kai_Yan_Court.pdf https://hos.housingauthority.gov.hk/mini-site/hos2022/common/pdf/brochure/Sales_Brochure_Kai_Yan.pdf