Shek Kip Mei Estate is the first public housing estate in Hong Kong

Public housing in Hong Kong

Public housing in Hong Kong is a set of mass housing programmes through which the Government of Hong Kong provides affordable housing for lower-income residents. It is a major component of housing in Hong Kong, with nearly half of the population now residing in some form of public housing...

. It is located in Sham Shui Po

Sham Shui Po

Sham Shui Po, or Shamshuipo, is an area of Sham Shui Po District, Hong Kong, situated in the northwestern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Tai Kok Tsui, east of Cheung Sha Wan and south of Shek Kip Mei. Sham Shui Po is known for its street market for electronic devices.-History:Sham Shui Po...

 and is under the management of the Hong Kong Housing Authority

Hong Kong Housing Authority

The Hong Kong Housing Authority is the main provider of public housing in Hong Kong. It was established in 1973 under the Housing Ordinance and is an agency of the Government of Hong Kong...

. The estate was constructed as a result of a fire in Shek Kip Mei

Shek Kip Mei

Shek Kip Mei, originally known as Kap Shek Mi, is an area in New Kowloon, the North Eastern Kowloon Peninsula of Hong Kong.-History:A major fire on 25 December 1953, destroyed the Shek Kip Mei shantytown of immigrants from Mainland China that had fled to Hong Kong, leaving 53,000 people...

 in 1953, to settle the families of inhabitants in the squats over the hill who lost their homes in one night.

Originally constructed in 1953 to alleviate the immediate housing need, the units in this "Mark I" estate were utilitarian.