Urban Council


The Urban Council was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon. These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Services Department. Later, the equivalent body for the New Territories was the Regional Council.
The council was founded as the Sanitary Board in 1883. It was renamed the Urban Council when new legislation was passed in 1936 expanding its mandate. In 1973 the council was reorganised under non-government control and became financially autonomous. Originally composed mainly of ex-officio and appointed members, by the time the Urban Council was disbanded following the Handover it was composed entirely of members elected by universal suffrage.

History

The Urban Council was first established as the Sanitary Board in 1883. In 1887, a system of partial elections was established, allowing selected individuals to vote for members of the Board. On 1 March 1935, the Sanitary Board was reconstituted to carry out the work which remained much the same until the Second World War broke out. The board was renamed the Urban Council in 1936 when the government passed the Urban Council Ordinance, which gave legal motive to the already expanding range of services provided by the council.
After the Second World War ended in 1945, the Council returned to its pre-war form but without any elected members. The work of the Sanitary Department of the government began to separate out from the medical and health service. On 28 May 1946, the Council met for the first time after the Japanese occupation. It was given power to carry out all its old duties – cleaning, burying the dead, running bath houses and public lavatories, hawker control – as well as some new ones, such as the use of bathing beaches throughout Hong Kong.
Only in May 1952 did elections return to the Urban Council. Two members were elected. Later in 1952, the number of elected members was doubled, their terms of office extended to two years, and the franchise enlarged.
By April 1956, half of the members of the Urban Council were elected, but by a minority of the population. A voter had to be at least 21 years of age, to have lived in Hong Kong for at least three years and to be qualified in at least one of 23 categories, which included educational qualifications, be a juror, salaried taxpayer, or a member of certain professional organisations. More details can be found in Schedule 1 of the Urban Council Ordinance. It was estimated that in 1970 there were 250,000 eligible voters and in 1981 the number had increased to 400,000 – 500,000.
In the 1960s, the duties of the Urban Council continued to multiply. City Hall in Central was opened in 1962, followed by the first multi-storey market in Jardine's Bazaar in March 1963.
In 1973, the council was reorganised under non-government control. It was given financial autonomy, which meant the budget could be planned without the approval of the Legislative Council. It was also no longer primarily in charge of housing. From then onwards, there were no government officials on the council and both the chairman and vice-chairman were elected among the 24 members. At the time, the council was unique in consisting solely of members of the public.
The Urban Council celebrated its centenary in 1983, with the Urban Council Centenary Garden in Tsim Sha Tsui East named to commemorate the occasion.
In the 1960s, the council proposed that its jurisdiction should be expanded to encompass the entire colony, but this was not accepted. The Urban Services Department already provided services in the New Territories despite the council not having jurisdiction there. In 1979, the New Territories Services Department was created as a dedicated unit to take up these responsibilities.
In 1986, Regional Council was set up to serve the New Territories, analogous to the Urban Council. The New Territories Services Department was reorganised to form the Regional Services Department, separate from the USD, the executive arm of the Regional Council.
In 1994, the Council became fully elected based on universal and equal adult suffrage.
After the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July 1997, the council's name was changed to Provisional Urban Council, consisting of members of the pre-handover Council, and new members were appointed by the Chief Executive.

Members and elections

Elections for unofficial members of the Urban Council were held since 1888. Suffrage was restricted to residents on the special and common jury lists between 1888 and 1973.
In 1973, the electoral franchise was widened to residents above 21 years of age who have lived in Hong Kong for at least three years that qualified in at least one of 23 specified categories, which included educational qualifications, be a juror, salaried taxpayer, or a member of certain professional organisations as listed in Schedule 1 of the Urban Council Ordinance. Half of the members of the Urban Council were elected, but by a minority of the population. It was estimated that in 1970 there were 250,000 eligible voters and in 1981 the number had increased to 400,000 – 500,000. Prominent elected Urban Councilors included Elsie Tu and Brook Bernacchi of the Reform Club.
The size of the Urban Council is as follows:

Ex officio
members
Appointed
unofficials
Elected
unofficials
Elected by
District Boards
Total
1888
442-10
1901
542-11
1903
442-10
1936
562-13
1946
56--11
1952562-13
1953564-15
1954
664-16
1956688-22
196561010-26
1973-1212-24
1983-1515-30
1989-15151040
1995--32941

The electorate and turnout of selected Urban Council elections before the expansion of electoral franchise is as follows:
YearNumber of
registered voters		Number of
registered voters who
voted in the election		Voting rate
19529,0743,36835.0
196529,5296,49222.0
196726,27510,18938.8
196934,3928,17523.8
197137,78810,04726.6
197331,2848,67524.4
197534,07810,90332.0
197737,1747,30819.7
197931,48112,42639.5
198134,3816,19518.0

Expansion of Electoral Franchise

The Green Paper: A Pattern of District Administration in Hong Kong was published on 6 June 1980 for public consultations on reforming local administration in Hong Kong. The Green Paper recommended that:
  • the number of appointed members in the Urban Council be increased to 15 to maintain the pre-existing ratio between appointed and elected members;
  • 8 constituencies be created for the Urban Council, with 7 multi-member constituencies and 1 single-member constituency; and
  • 1-2 constituencies in each district; each constituency represents 250,000.
Upon the conclusion of public consultations, the White Paper: District Administration in Hong Kong was published in January 1981. The White Paper solidified expansion of suffrage for Urban Council elections. The Urban Council Ordinance 1981 was subsequently enacted in 1981 to provide for the expansion of electoral franchise and creation of constituencies to the Urban Council election on 8 March 1983:
The electoral franchise were expanded to around 568,000 voters upon implementation of the White Paper, which marked an increase by 17 times:
  • minimum voting age to remain at 21;
  • minimum period of ordinary residence in Hong Kong increased from 3 to 7 years;
  • all residents were eligible for suffrage regardless of nationalities; and
  • the 23 criteria for registering as voters in Urban Council elections abolished.
The electorate and turnout of selected Urban Council elections after the expansion of electoral franchise are as follows:
YearNumber of
registered voters		Number of
registered voters who
voted in the election		Turnout in
contested elections 		Percentage of
those eligible to vote
1983708,119127,20622.47.8
1986944,844218,57323.112.5
19891,045,073105,82614.26.4
19911,124,292214,54420.910.8

Changes to the electoral system of unofficial members in the Urban Council are outlined as follows:
PeriodVoting systemNumber of constituenciesTotal number of
Elected seats		Proportion of
Elected seats
in UrbCo
1888-1936First-past-the-post voting and
plurality-at-large voting		1 constituency2 seats18.2-20%
1936-1940First-past-the-post voting and
plurality-at-large voting		1 constituency2 seats15.4%
1952plurality-at-large voting1 constituency2 seats15.4%
1953-1955plurality-at-large voting1 constituency4 seats27.7%
1956-1971plurality-at-large voting1 constituency8 seats36.4%
1973-1981plurality-at-large voting1 constituency12 seats50%
1983-1986First-past-the-post voting15 constituencies15 seats50%
1989-1991First-past-the-post voting15 constituencies15 seats37.5%
1995First-past-the-post voting32 constituencies32 seats78%