The West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD, is a proposed and developing project to boost cultural and entertainment establishments at Hong Kong, SAR. Located at the wedge-shaped waterfront reclaimed land west of Yau Ma Tei, the district will feature a new museum of visual culture, numerous theatres, concert halls and other performance venues under the management of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, which is directly financed by the government with an upfront endowment of HK$21.6 billion for construction and operation.
The West Kowloon Cultural District is the largest arts and cultural project in Hong Kong to date. It aims to be developed as an arts and cultural hub with world-class facilities. Taking up 40 hectares, the district will include 17 core arts and cultural venues as well as space for arts education. This includes a new museum of visual culture, M+ Museum. The project will be developed in 2 phrases with construction scheduled to commence in 2013.
Although hardware is yet to be completed, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority has started its software development. Its first culture event is the West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre at the future site of Xiqu Centre in 2012. “Mobile M+: Yau Ma Tei”, a contemporary art exhibition is the second program held by the Authority, which is the first in a series of pre-opening “nomadic” exhibition curated by M+ before the completion of the museum building in 2017.
The early proposal of the project was once overturned in 2006 due to doubts on financing models and lack of planning. As the project returned to track in 2006, the government of HKSAR established the Consulative Committees to formulate a Recommendation Report to decide what facilities to offer and how they would be managed in the WKCD. In 2007, a three-month public consultation were being carried out again and the early stages were completed in December 2007 to decide what facilities to offer and how they would be managed. The project was first proposed to attract tourists to Hong Kong, but the focus of discussion thereafter has turned to the benefits for the local residents, both intellectually and economically.
In early 2011, it was expected that the first phase of the project will open from 2015, and the second phase from 2026.
Read more about West Kowloon Cultural District: Venues, Museums and Layout
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