About the West Kowloon Cultural District 

A Place for Everyone

Stretching across 40 hectares of reclaimed land, the West Kowloon Cultural District is one of the largest cultural projects in the world, blending together art, education, open space, hotel, office and residential developments and retail, dining and entertainment facilities.

Our vision is to create a vibrant cultural quarter for Hong Kong where the local arts scene can interact, develop and collaborate. When complete it will provide about 23 hectares of public open space with two kilometres of harbour-front promenade of 20 metres in width as well as a host of arts and cultural facilities that will produce and host world-class exhibitions, performances, and arts and cultural events.

The District’s major cultural facilities, the Arts Pavilion, the Art Park, Freespace, the Hong Kong Palace Museum, M+ and the Xiqu Centre are already open and present a diverse and exciting programme of events.

Background

The West Kowloon Cultural District is one of the largest and most significant cultural projects in the world.

The idea of creating a cultural district in Hong Kong was first floated in 1998. The concept of building the West Kowloon Cultural District was subsequently featured in the Chief Executive’s Policy Address.

In 2006, recognising that arts and culture are a vital part of any world-class city’s economic and social fabric, the HKSAR Government established the Consultative Committee on the Core Arts and Cultural Facilities of the District and its three advisory groups. After consulting with the local arts community and related parties, the government recommended developing various performing arts venues, a cultural institution with museum functions and an exhibition centre. It also recommended developing the District as a low-density harbourfront development with ample open space and close ties to its neighbouring community.

To realise this vision, the Government set up a statutory body - the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority - to take forward this project. On 11 July 2008, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority Ordinance, Cap. 601 was enacted by the Legislative Council. The Legislative Council also approved an upfront endowment of HK$21.6 billion for developing the West Kowloon Cultural District. A three-stage Public Engagement Exercise was then carried out between 2009 and 2011, where opinions, needs and aspirations of the public were sought. The findings helped shortlist and finalise the Conceptual Plan and subsequently the Development Plan for the District.