Kennedy Town

Kennedy Town is a town and neighbourhood at the western end of Sai Wan on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It was named after Arthur Edward Kennedy, the 7th governor of Hong Kong from 1872 to 1877. Administratively, it is part of Central and Western District.

Due to its distance from major commercial cores and longtime inaccessibility by train, urban development in this area was less vigorous than in other parts of urban Hong Kong. But since the MTR was extended to the area in 2014, it began rapidly gentrifying, with many older businesses, such as vehicle repair workshops and cha chaan tengs, making way for new luxury developments, as well as high-end bars and restaurants.

Kennedy Town occupies the northwestern part of Hong Kong Island. It is bordered by the Belcher Bay of Victoria Harbour to the north, by Sulphur Channel to the west, Shek Tong Tsui to the east and Mount Davis and Lung Fu Shan to the south.

Historically, the district's western limit was legally defined as the western boundary of the City of Victoria. However, post-war development south of the boundary – Kennedy Town Service Reservoir Playground, Shun Hing College, Smithfield Garden, Mei Wah Mansion, Wah Fai House, and west of the boundary – Serene Court, The Sail at Victoria, and Island West Transfer Station, are all widely considered part of Kennedy Town. Kennedy Town Service Reservoir Playground, Lap Chee College of Shun Hing College, Block A of Smithfield Garden, Wah Fai House, and Serene Court straddle the boundary of Victoria. Since the borders of Kennedy Town have not officially been redefined, the above properties are technically either partly or entirely outside of Kennedy Town. The eastern boundary was not de jure defined but nevertheless de facto formerly defined as the alley between Belcher Court and Nam Hung Mansion. The border is also evidenced by the bend in the street grid, of which the alley is the axis. Due to the lack of space to relocate the Kennedy Town Swimming Pool for the Kennedy Town station, it had to be moved to Shek Tong Tsui. As a result, the border was de facto redefined as Collinson Street. Phase I of the Kennedy Town Swimming Pool is in Kennedy Town while Phase II is in Shek Tong Tsui. The elderly home in front of The Belcher's, Jockey Club Student Village I, and the Centennial Campus are in Kennedy Town, while The Belcher's itself and the part of The University of Hong Kong from the Chow Yei Ching Building to The Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building are in Shek Tong Tsui.

In 1886, when Arthur Edward Kennedy was governor, land was reclaimed along the coast of Kennedy Town. It formed a narrow coastal strip of land that included the Kennedy Praya and the coastal area from Beach Street via Collinson Street to Shek Tong Tsui. Additional land was reclaimed along the coast of Kennedy Town between 1933 and 1939, but works were suspended before the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941. Further reclamation was conducted at the end of the 20th century.

For district council elections purposes, the area roughly corresponds to the "Kennedy Town and Mount Davis", "Kwun Lung" and "Sai Wan" constituencies. The boundaries of such constituencies may be subject to modification.

Kennedy Town is the western section of the historical Victoria City. In 1903, the Hong Kong Government erected seven boundary stones for the city, inscribed "City Boundary 1903". One of them is located next to the Kennedy Town Temporary Recreation Ground at Sai Ning Street (西寧街). During the Japanese occupation, Kennedy Town was renamed Sannodai (山王台).

Streets in Kennedy Town include: