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The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the Urban Services Department. 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 comprised mainly of ''ex officio'' and appointed members, by the time the Urban Council was abolished following the Handover it was comprised 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 on the board. On 1 March 1935, the Sanitary Board was reconstituted to carry out the work which remained much the same until World War Two broke out. The board gained a new name in 1936 when the government passed the Urban Council Ordinance, legally expanding the range of services provided by the council, which had been gradually increasing in scope regardless. After the Second World War, the Urban Council received 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. The first Urban Council meeting to take place after the Japanese occupation was held on 28 May 1946, with the council being empowered 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 were elections returned to the Urban Council when two members were elected. And later in 1952, the number of elected members was doubled, their terms of office extended to two years and the electoral roll enlarged. Finally by April 1956 half of the members of the Urban Council was elected by a small minority of the population eligible to vote. The qualifications for eligibility were very complex: For example, a voter had to be at least 21 years of age, have lived in Hong Kong for at least 3 years and must be qualified in at least one of 23 categories, which included educational qualifications (School Certificate Examination or equivalent), 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'' (Cap. 101, ''Laws of Hong Kong'').〔Norman Miners. 1981. ''The Government and Politics of Hong Kong''. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.〕 It was estimated that in 1970 there were 250,000 eligible voters〔“Elected Urbco protest over reform plan,” in: ''South China Morning Post'', 1970〕 and in 1981 the number had increased to 400,000 – 500,000.〔“Sing Tao Jih Pao,” in ''Hong Kong Standard'', 8 March 1981〕 In 1960s, the responsibilities of the Urban Council continued to multiply. The City Hall in Central was opened in 1962, followed by the first multi-storey markets in Jardine's Bazaar in March 1963. In 1973 the council was reorganised under non-government control with financial autonomy, which meant that the budget could be planned without the approval of the legislative council. Furthermore, the changes also removed housing as one of its main tasks. Since then, there were no government officials on the council and both the chairman and vice-chairman were elected among the 24 members. At that time, the council was the only one which solely consisted of members of the public. Source: Norman Miners, 1986, ''The Government and Politics of Hong Kong'' p. 167. Source: Norman Miners, ''The government and politics of Hong Kong'' (Hong Kong; New York: Oxford University Press, 1981), p. 224. Prominent elected Urban Councilors were Elsie Tu and Brook Bernacchi of the Reform Club. The Urban Council celebrated its centennial anniversary in 1983. The Urban Council Centenary Garden was named to commemorate the occasion. An equivalent body, the Regional Council was set up in 1986 to serve the New Territories (excluding New Kowloon). In 1994 the Council became fully elected based on universal and equal adult suffrage.〔(CACV 1/2000 )〕 After the transfer of sovereignty in 1997, the name was changed to Provisional Urban Council, consisting of members of the pre-handover UrbCo, and new members appointed by the Chief Executive. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Urban Council」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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