Editing Districts of Hong Kong (section)

==History==
In the 1860s, residents speaking the same dialects were often grouped together, and social structure was more important than district structure. Merchants often travelled together as [[guild]]s and sold common goods across different areas. Organizations such as [[Nam Pak Hong]], [[Tung Wah Hospital|Tung Wah Hospital Committee]] and "District Watch Committee" often cut across any native district lines. The concept of boundary separation only became important around 1870, when cultural conflicts increased between [[coolie]]s, Chinese and the British.<ref>Tsai Jung-fang. [1995] (1995). Hong Kong in Chinese History: community and social unrest in the British Colony, 1842–1913. Columbia University Press. {{ISBN|0-231-07933-8}}</ref> One of the first legal attempt to control districts came in 1888 under the European District Reservation Ordinance, which reserved areas exclusively to Europeans. The first Town Planning Ordinance did not appear until 1939.<ref>Fong, Ki Lai Lawrence Wai-chung. [2000] (2000) Hong Kong University Press. Town Planning Practice: Context Procedures and Statistics for Hong Kong. {{ISBN|962-209-516-X}}</ref><ref>Levine, Philippa. [2003] (2003) Prostitution, Race and Politics: Policing Venereal Disease in the British Empire. United Kingdom: Routledge Publishing. {{ISBN|0-415-94446-5}}</ref>

The [[New Territories]] and [[New Kowloon]] became part of Hong Kong since 1898. The colonial government appoints [[District Officer]] to oversee the area. At first the Northern District Officer was stationed in [[Old District Office North|Tai Po]]. The Northern District and Southern District was later split into [[Islands District]] Office, [[Tuen Mun District]] Office, [[Yuen Long District]] Office, [[Sai Kung District]] Office, etc.

Following the appointment of district officers in urban Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Kowloon since 1968,<ref>https://www.legco.gov.hk/yr79-80/english/lc_sitg/hansard/h791010.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> the District Administration Scheme was implemented in 1982 with the establishment of a [[district councils of Hong Kong|district board]] and a district management committee in each of the districts in Hong Kong, including Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and aforementioned the New Territories. The aim of the scheme is to achieve a more effective co-ordination of government activities in the provision of services and facilities at the district level, ensure that the [[Government of Hong Kong|Government]] is responsive to district needs and problems and promote public participation in district affairs. From 1 July 1997 to 31 December 1999, the former district boards were replaced by provisional district boards. The provisional district boards were in turn replaced on 1 January 2000, with 18 district councils.

There have been two major changes on district divisions since their implementation in 1982:

# [[Kwai Tsing District]] split off from [[Tsuen Wan District]] in 1985.
# [[Yau Tsim District]] and [[Mong Kok District]] merged to become [[Yau Tsim Mong District]] in 1994.

There were also alterations to the borders between Sham Shui Po and Kwai Tsing districts, which used to straddle across [[Nob Hill (Hong Kong)|Nob Hill]] since its development on the site of the former [[Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park]], in 2006,<ref>https://www.legco.gov.hk/yr05-06/english/counmtg/hansard/cm0621-translate-e.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> and between Eastern and Wan Chai districts, which involved reallocation of the [[Tin Hau (constituency)|Tin Hau]] and the [[Victoria Park (constituency)|Victoria Park]] constituencies in 2014.<ref>https://www.legco.gov.hk/yr13-14/english/counmtg/hansard/cm0122-translate-e.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> The borders between Sham Shui Po with that of Kwai Tsing and Yau Tsim Mong were also altered after new [[Land reclamation in Hong Kong|land reclamation]] [[Airport Core Programme#Land Reclamation in West Kowloon|projects in the 1990s]] made it necessary to redraw the previous sea borders over newly formed land.<ref>Schedule to Declaration of Districts Order 1994, Cap 366H, and plan nos. DB/94/F, DB/94/E, DB/94/S; Part II of Schedule 1 to District Councils Bill 1999, and maps numbered DC/2000/F, DC/2000/E, DC/2000/S.</ref> The border between Yau Tsim Mong and Kowloon City districts was altered following reclamation of [[Hung Hom Bay]] in the 1990s.