Edinburgh Place is a
public squarePublic Square is the central plaza in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It takes up four city blocks; Superior Avenue and Ontario Street cross through it. Cleveland's three tallest buildings, Key Tower, the BP Tower and the Terminal Tower, face the square...
in
CentralCentral , the central business district of Hong Kong, was commonly known as part of Victoria City. It is an area on the north shore of Hong Kong Island. It is located across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui, the southernmost point of Kowloon Peninsula...
,
Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
, adjacent to the
Victoria HarbourVictoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour situated between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on the South China Sea was instrumental in Hong Kong's establishment as a British colony and its subsequent...
. The
Hong Kong City HallThe Hong Kong City Hall is a building located at Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Since Hong Kong does not designate itself or any part of itself as a city, there is no mayor or city council; therefore, the City Hall does not hold the offices of a city government, unlike most...
is located in the square. In addition, the
Edinburgh Place Ferry PierEdinburgh Place Ferry Pier, often referred to as the "Star Ferry" Pier, was a pier in Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong; the pier, with its clock tower, was a prominent waterfront landmark...
and
Queen's PierQueen's Pier, named after Queen Victoria, was a public ceremonial pier in front of City Hall in Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong. Its two generations have served as a ceremonial pier as well as a public pier, and have witnessed the official arrival in Hong Kong of all of Hong Kong's governors...
were also located in the square before they were demolished in early 2007.
History
The Edinburgh Place complex, which included the City Hall and the Memorial gardens were designed by
BritishThe British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, one of the Channel Islands, or of one of the British overseas territories, and their descendants. In a historical context, the term refers to the ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain south of the...
architectAn architect is trained and licensed in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e. chief builder...
s
Ron PhillipsRon Phillips is a former Australian rules footballer who played with North Adelaide in the SANFL. He won back to back Magarey Medals in 1948 and 1949, the only other North Adelaide player to achieve this feat is Tommy MacKenzie....
and
Alan Fitch Alan Fitch was a British Labour Party politician.Fitch was educated at Kingswood School, Bath , and was a mineworker...
in 1956 for the most important civic functions of the city.
Queen's Pier, completed in 1954, was "an integral part" of the cluster: the entrance to the City Hall formed an axis with the Pier to lend a sense of occasion to visiting dignatories.
Edinburgh Place is a
public squarePublic Square is the central plaza in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It takes up four city blocks; Superior Avenue and Ontario Street cross through it. Cleveland's three tallest buildings, Key Tower, the BP Tower and the Terminal Tower, face the square...
in
CentralCentral , the central business district of Hong Kong, was commonly known as part of Victoria City. It is an area on the north shore of Hong Kong Island. It is located across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui, the southernmost point of Kowloon Peninsula...
,
Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
, adjacent to the
Victoria HarbourVictoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour situated between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on the South China Sea was instrumental in Hong Kong's establishment as a British colony and its subsequent...
. The
Hong Kong City HallThe Hong Kong City Hall is a building located at Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Since Hong Kong does not designate itself or any part of itself as a city, there is no mayor or city council; therefore, the City Hall does not hold the offices of a city government, unlike most...
is located in the square. In addition, the
Edinburgh Place Ferry PierEdinburgh Place Ferry Pier, often referred to as the "Star Ferry" Pier, was a pier in Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong; the pier, with its clock tower, was a prominent waterfront landmark...
and
Queen's PierQueen's Pier, named after Queen Victoria, was a public ceremonial pier in front of City Hall in Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong. Its two generations have served as a ceremonial pier as well as a public pier, and have witnessed the official arrival in Hong Kong of all of Hong Kong's governors...
were also located in the square before they were demolished in early 2007.
History
The Edinburgh Place complex, which included the City Hall and the Memorial gardens were designed by
BritishThe British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, one of the Channel Islands, or of one of the British overseas territories, and their descendants. In a historical context, the term refers to the ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain south of the...
architectAn architect is trained and licensed in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e. chief builder...
s
Ron PhillipsRon Phillips is a former Australian rules footballer who played with North Adelaide in the SANFL. He won back to back Magarey Medals in 1948 and 1949, the only other North Adelaide player to achieve this feat is Tommy MacKenzie....
and
Alan Fitch Alan Fitch was a British Labour Party politician.Fitch was educated at Kingswood School, Bath , and was a mineworker...
in 1956 for the most important civic functions of the city.
Queen's Pier, completed in 1954, was "an integral part" of the cluster: the entrance to the City Hall formed an axis with the Pier to lend a sense of occasion to visiting dignatories. From the completion of City Hall in 1962, each arriving new
GovernorThe Governor of Hong Kong was the head of Government, ex-officio Commander-in-Chief and Vice-Admiral of Hong Kong during British rule between 1841 and 1997....
would land at Queen's Pier, and they would hold an inspection of the
Guard of honour-Military and diplomatic:A ceremonial guard of honour is a military practice to honour the fallen in war, or to honour visiting foreign dignitaries. A guard of honour is also a ceremony for public figures who have died....
in Edinburgh Place before being sworn in nearby in the City Hall. The Star Ferry Pier was completed in 1957.
Edinburgh Place was deliberately kept as open space in the overbuilt city, freely accessible to the public, as this was considered an essential contrast to the city bustle. The out-sized public areas were conceived to promote the freedom of movement and a sense of unlimited space.
Its openness meant that the square would occasionally be used as a rallying point for small marches and protests within earshot of legislators. For example, in July 1978, 2000 people rallied to demand re-opening of defunct Precious Blood Golden Jubilee School. Since October 1987, the
Legislative CouncilThe Legislative Council, or LegCo , is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong.-History:The Legislative Council of Hong Kong was created in 1843 under the authority of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
has banned gatherings outside the principal
LegCo buildingThe Legislative Council Building of Hong Kong, also called the Former Supreme Court Building , was the home of the former Supreme Court until 1985, when it was renamed and became home to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong...
.