Sham Shui Po District is one of 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is the second poorest district by income in Hong Kong, with a predominantly working-class population of 405,869 in 2016 and the lowest median household income of all districts.[3] Sham Shui Po has long been home to poorer new immigrants from China. It also saw the birth of public housing in Hong Kong, as the government sought to resettle those displaced by a devastating fire in its slums. Sham Shui Po also hosted a Vietnamese refugee camp during the influx of migration in the aftermath of the Vietnam War in the 1970s.
Stonecutters Island – Excluding the reclaimed lands for Container Terminal 8 which is located in north of Hing Wah Street West and Ngong Shuen Chau Viaduct.
Demographics and housing
Sham Shui Po was already a densely populated district in the 1950s and 1960s. It is poverty-stricken, having the lowest median monthly domestic household income among the 18 districts. It has the highest percentage of elderly people over 65 years. The percentage of new immigrants is also very high. Living conditions of grass-roots families in this district remain a social issue.[4]
Mei Foo Sun Chuen in Lai Chi Kok, built in 1968–1978, was Hong Kong's first large-scale private housing estate. It comprises eight phases with a total of 99 blocks.[5]
There are also various bus routes serving the district. Most of them are operated by Kowloon Motor Bus, and some by Citybus. These two companies also jointly operate some routes, most of these crossing the harbour to the Hong Kong Island.