In the 19th century, the British founded City of Victoria in the present-day Central after the establishment of the Crown Colony of Hong Kong.

[1] It was designed by the French architect Achille-Antoine Hermitte and was opened by Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, in a ceremony on 28 June 1869.

The second and current City Hall complex was built in the late 1950s following a public campaign led by the Sino-British Club for the re-establishment of a civic centre in Hong Kong.

[8] The building complex erected at the present site based on the original design by Professor Gordon Brown, the first Head of Department of Architecture of Hong Kong University, together with his team including Patricia O'Reilly Mayne, was completed by British architects Ronald Phillips and Alan Fitch at the cost of HK$20 million.

[9] One major consideration was juxtaposing the city bustle whilst maximising public access to the surrounding area.

Thus, the out-sized public areas of the Memorial Gardens and the piazza in front were conceived as a natural extension to promote the "freedom of movement and a sense of unlimited space".

Inscribed on the walls of the Memorial Shrine are eight chinese characters evoking the everlasting spirit of the Brave and the Dead.

City Hall Memorial Garden enclosing the World War II (1941–1945) Memorial Shrine The High Block, a 12-storey building, is in the south-western end and houses a number of government facilities: The 3-storey Low Block is at the eastern end, with the following facilities: Other civic centres in Hong Kong: Nearby sites: