- Edinburgh Place
Edinburgh Place is a
public square in Central,Hong Kong , adjacent to theVictoria Harbour . The Hong Kong City Hall is located in the square. In addition, theEdinburgh Place Ferry Pier andQueen's Pier 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 British
architect sRon Phillips andAlan Fitch 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 Governor would land at Queen's Pier, and they would hold an inspection of the
Guard of honour in Edinburgh Place before being sworn in nearby in the City Hall [http://www.amo.gov.hk/form/AAB_Paper129_queen_annexb_e.pdf Annexe B3] , EIA: A survey report of Historical Buildings and Structures within the Project Area of the Central Reclamation Phase III, Chan Sui San Peter for the HK Government, February 2001] . 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 spacecite news|title = Save Queen's Pier, says architect of City Hall complex | first = Liz | last = Heron |publisher =
South China Morning Post | date = 2007-05-13 | page = 4 ] .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 [ [http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/newspaper/view/11_02.01/81159.pdf Mass march on school row] , The Gist, 10-Jul-1978] . Since October 1987, the Legislative Council has banned gatherings outside the principal LEGCO building [Andy Ho, [http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/newspaper/view/09_06.02/86096.pdf Legco clamps down on violent protests] ,
The Standard , 17-Oct-1987] .References
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