COVER STORY 封面故事
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ave you ever wondered where Hong Kong’s original shorelines lie? Discover how reclamation has led and represented the city’s development over the centuries, with fun and fascinating facts.
你 是否好奇香港原本的海岸線在哪裡?不妨來了解一下香港的填海造地 歷史，有很多趣味故事，借此還可以了解香港近百年來的發展史。
Filled to the Hilt Hong Kong’s Fascinating
Reclamation History
香港填海工程史
S
ince the earliest days of the British colony, geographically and economically, Hong Kong has been substantially built on land reclaimed from the sea. Compared with the city’s coastline two hundred years ago, when Hong Kong was still a collection of hamlets and fishing villages, today’s landform is almost unrecognisable. Expanding territory into the sea has been a human endeavour for hundreds of years, undertaken by countries and cities around the world. The Dutch have extensively reclaimed low-lying areas since the 13th century. In Hong Kong, the infilling of nearby shallow waters has played a pivotal role on the city’s development. In all, more than 6.3%, or around 70 square kilometres, of the city’s total area of 1,106 square kilometres has been reclaimed. But this vital new land accounts for more than 27% of the city’s residential area and supports 70% of its commercial activity. The city’s eagerness to make its own land was led by its natural geography. Most of Hong Kong Kong’s original coastline was rugged and largely uninhabitable, with villages clinging to slivers of flat space between the mountains and the sea. So when the area around you is mostly level, it is likely the work of man, not nature. Take a walk with us back through time to explore how reclamation projects have shaped and transformed Hong Kong. By visualising the original geography, we can appreciate the city’s remarkable transformation from remote outpost to one of the world’s great cities.
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不誇張，無論從地理上還是從經濟上來 說，香港不少的地區都是在填海土地上建 造的。把現在和200年前（當時香港還是都是村莊和 漁村）的城市海岸線做比較，截然不同，幾乎認不出 來。 數百年來，全世界很多國家和地區一直在努力地 圍海造地。荷蘭人在13世紀開始在低窪地區進行大規 模的填海。填海造地在香港的發展歷史上發揮了巨大 作用。在全港1106平方公里的總面積中，有6.3%以 上（約70平方公里）是填海造地而來。但是開墾土地 27％以上是用於居住，其商業活動佔據70％以上。 考慮到香港的自然地理，大規模填海工程不足為 奇。香港原有海岸線大部分崎嶇不平，不適合居住發 展，村莊坐落在在山海之間面積狹小的平坦土地上。 如今，你在海岸邊所踩着的平地都是人類的傑作，而 不是來自於大自然。 讓我們回顧過去，探索香港較為著名的填海工 程，看看它是如何塑造香港的？你可以重新認識這座 城市，欣賞這座城市從偏遠地區轉變為世界偉大城市 之一的過程，感受這多麼非凡的成就。
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www.hkcitylife.com | JANUARY 2021
