View source for Shek Kip Mei

{{Short description|Area in New Kowloon, Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use Hong Kong English|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| t2 = 石甲尾
| p = Shíxiáwěi
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|shi|2|x|ia|2|wei|3}}
| j = Sek<sup>6</sup> gip<sup>3</sup> mei<sup>5</sup>
| y = Sehk gip méih
| ci = {{IPA|yue|sɛ̀ːkkɪ̄pme̬i|}}
| pic = Shek Kip Mei Buildings 2009.jpg
| piccap = Shek Kip Mei in 2009
| altname = Shek Kap Mei
| c = 
| y2 = Sehk gaap méih
| j2 = Sek<sup>6</sup> gaap<sup>3</sup> mei<sup>5</sup>
| s2 = 石甲尾
| t = 石硤尾
| s = 石硖尾
| l = Gorge End
}}
'''Shek Kip Mei''', {{citation needed span|date=October 2021|text=originally known as '''Shek Kap Mei''',}} is an area in [[New Kowloon]], to the northeast of the [[Kowloon Peninsula]] of [[Hong Kong]]. It borders [[Sham Shui Po]] and [[Kowloon Tong]].

==History==
[[Image:Shekkipmei fire 1953.jpg|thumb|The 1953 Shek Kip Mei fire]]
[[Image:SKM Estate Overview.jpg|thumb|[[Shek Kip Mei Estate]] (foreground) in 2006. The area on the left has since been redeveloped to new Shek Kip Mei Estate in 2012]]
[[Image:Shek Kip Mei Estate 2012 part1.JPG|thumb|new [[Shek Kip Mei Estate]] in 2012]]
[[File:The Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre 2009.jpg|thumb|The Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre (JCCAC) is the main art studio and gallery inside Shek Kip Mei]]
[[File:Shek Kip Mei Estate 2013 part6.JPG|thumb|right|Revitalisation of Mei Ho House as City Hostel]]
At the time of the 1911 census, the population of Shek Kip Mei was 72.<ref>{{Cite journal| last = Hase| first = Patrick |author-link=Patrick Hase| title = Traditional Life in the New Territories: The Evidence of the 1911 and 1921 Censuses| journal =Journal of the [[Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch]]| volume = 36| page = 83| year = 1996| url = https://hkjo.lib.hku.hk/archive/files/ecc123316b3526a31a101b3c4cf08a12.pdf| issn = 1991-7295}}</ref>

[[Shek Kip Mei fire|A major fire]] on 25 December 1953 destroyed the Shek Kip Mei [[shanty town]] of immigrants from [[Mainland China]] who had fled to Hong Kong, leaving 53,000 people homeless.

After the fire, the governor [[Alexander Grantham]] launched a [[Public housing in Hong Kong|public housing programme]] to introduce the idea of multi-storey building for the immigrant population living there. The standardised new structures offered fire- and flood-resistant construction to previously vulnerable hut dwellers. The programme involved demolishing the rest of the makeshift houses left untouched by the fire, and the construction of the [[Shek Kip Mei Estate|Shek Kip Mei Low-cost Housing Estate]] in their stead. The apartments were small, only about {{convert|300|ft2}}.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}} Each unit could house five people, and each building had a capacity of 2,500 residents.<ref>Wiltshire, Trea. [First published 1987] (republished & reduced 2003). Old Hong Kong – Volume Three. Central, Hong Kong: Text Form Asia books Ltd. Page 7. ISBN Volume Three 962-7283-61-4</ref> The rent was [[Hong Kong dollar|HK$]]17 per square foot per month, while the rent for a commercial store downstairs was HK$100 per month. Foreign tourists visiting the apartment complexes referred to them as "prisons". Some scholars have argued that the government has been overstating the role of the fire in the history of public housing in Hong Kong.<ref>Smart, Alan. (2006). The Shek Kip Mei Myth: Squatters, Fires And Colonial Rulers in Hong Kong, 1950–1963.</ref>

At the north of Shek Kip Mei is Tai Wo Ping ({{lang|zh-Hant-HK|大窩坪}}), along [[Beacon Hill (Hong Kong)|Beacon Hill]]. This was a [[cottage]] area (a type of resettlement accommodation) from the 1950s to 1970s, but it has been developed into a [[Public housing in Hong Kong|public housing estate]], Chak On Estate ({{lang|zh-Hant-HK|澤安邨}}), and two [[private housing estates]], Beacon Heights ({{lang|zh-Hant-HK|畢架山花園}}) and Dynasty Heights ({{lang|zh-Hant-HK|帝景峰}}).<ref>[http://hkclweb.hkpl.gov.hk/hkclr2/igateway?svc=bsch&stype=itr&param=title&frm=1&to=1&ss=ContentPhoto&ctrlid=2054001&lang=eng Tai Wo Ping Cottage Area] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721094303/http://hkclweb.hkpl.gov.hk/hkclr2/igateway?svc=bsch&stype=itr&param=title&frm=1&to=1&ss=ContentPhoto&ctrlid=2054001&lang=eng |date=21 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.aiahk.org/image/2006conf/pdf/presentation/KS_HK6TChan.pdf Hong Kong in the Post War Years] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121045934/http://www.aiahk.org/image/2006conf/pdf/presentation/KS_HK6TChan.pdf |date=21 November 2008 }}</ref>

==Present==
{{Update|section|date=August 2014}}
{{Unreferencedsect|date=April 2025}}
The Government has backed off from its plans to redevelop the area, following great opposition from many who believe they symbolised the [[1950s in Hong Kong|history of Hong Kong]]. An alternative plan to renovate it for use as a hostel and museum has been completed. The museum includes restored rooms, resident stories and photos, and documentation of the history of public housing estates.

Shek Kip Mei now has several types of housing including the public apartments, [[Pak Tin Estate]] and private housing such as Beacon Heights and Dynasty Heights. Several malls and churches can also be found in the area now.

The old Shek Kip Mei Factory Estate was renovated and now serves as the [[Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre]].

==Transportation==
Since 1 October 1979, it has been served by [[Shek Kip Mei station]] on the [[MTR]] at Woh Chai Street and Wai Chi Street.

[[Route 7 (Hong Kong)|Route 7]] passes to the north of the area and accessed via Nam Cheong Street.

[[Kowloon Motor Bus|KMB]] and [[New World First Bus]] operates a number or routes that travel within the area.

==Education==
Shek Kip Mei is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 40. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and two government schools: Fuk Wing Street Government Primary School and Li Cheng Uk Government Primary School.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/edu-system/primary-secondary/spa-systems/primary-1-admission/school-lists/2023dpnet-40b.pdf|title=POA School Net 40|publisher=[[Education Bureau]]|accessdate=2022-09-12}}</ref>

[[Hong Kong Public Libraries]] maintains the Shek Kip Mei Public Library in the [[Shek Kip Mei Estate]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hkpl.gov.hk/en/locations/sham-shui-po/library/shek-kip-mei.html|title=Shek Kip Mei Public Library|publisher=[[Hong Kong Public Libraries]]|access-date=2025-10-12}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Public housing in Hong Kong]]
* [[Shek Kip Mei Estate]] and [[Mei Ho House]]
* [[North Kowloon Magistracy]]
* [[Woh Chai Shan]] aka. Shek Kip Mei Hill aka. Bishop Hill, a hill in Shek Kip Mei

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Shek Kip Mei}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060527061354/http://www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk/english/exhibition_highlight_file/exhibition_sel_past_result.asp?exid=45 Pictures of the 1953 fire and early resettlement buildings]
* [http://www.hkadc.org.hk/en/content/home.do Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre project website]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evIwMJRVoHQ Video showing Shek Kip Mei just after the fire]
{{Sham Shui Po District}}
{{Hong Kong Urban Areas}}
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[[Category:Shek Kip Mei| ]]
[[Category:Places in Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Sham Shui Po District]]
[[Category:New Kowloon]]
[[Category:Former squats]]