Private housing estates in Hong Kong

Private housing estates in Hong Kong
Mei Foo Sun Chuen is the earliest and largest private housing estate in Hong Kong
Chinese私人屋苑
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinSīrén wū yuàn
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationSī yàhn ūk yún
JyutpingSi1 jan4 uk1 jyun2

Private housing estate is a term used in Hong Kong for private mass housing – a housing estate developed by a private developer, as opposed to a public housing estate built by the Hong Kong Housing Authority or the Hong Kong Housing Society. It usually is characterised with a cluster of high-rise buildings, with its own market or shopping mall. Mei Foo Sun Chuen, built by Mobil, is the earliest (1965) and largest by number of blocks (99).

Early real estate development in Hong Kong followed the urban street pattern: single blocks are packed along streets and most of them are managed independently, with quality varying from block to block. Private housing estates on the other hand provide integrated management throughout whole estate, attracting more affluent residents.

Mei Foo Sun Chuen, Taikoo Shing, Whampoa Garden and City One Shatin are early notable examples. More projects followed and the idea became widely accepted as the middle class of Hong Kong emerged.