Sanitary Reforms in Hong Kong (Second Half of the 19th Century to the Beginning of the 20th Century)

Abstract

Sanitary reforms in China began in parts of the country where European influence was strong. The British colony of Hong Kong was at the forefront of sanitary reforms, where the population naturally had to adapt to the difficult conditions of the climate, the burden of infectious diseases and constant overcrowding. By the early 1880s, the colony's growing Chinese population and disorderly housing development raised serious concerns among the European community that the presence of the Chinese posed a tangible threat to the health and well-being of Europeans in this part of East Asia. This sentiment prompted a series of sanitary reforms, catalyzed by the reports of colonial engineer Osbert Chadwick, a staunch advocate of sanitation and equal access to modern sanitary infrastructure. His reports of 1882 and 1902 set the course of sanitary reform in Hong Kong for the long term. They were also a response to the Hong Kong Chinese community's request for universal access to adequate methods of rainwater and domestic sewage disposal, as well as access to a more equitable water supply. Like all fast-growing global cities, Hong Kong's continued development was impossible without an extensive sanitation transformation program. It was advocated not only by the most far-sighted members of the colonial administration, but also by much of the colony's Chinese population.