The Hong Kong City Hall is the first cultural complex ever built to provide the community of Hong Kong with an array of cultural and artistic programmes. It just celebrated its 40^th Anniversary in 2002. Over the years, it has not only enhanced the spiritual life of the public, but has also nurtured countless artistic talents.

The City Hall Library, which is housed in the adjacent High Block of City Hall, is the very first public library in Hong Kong with a huge collection of books. To enhance library service, a Basic Law Library was opened in 2004 to complement the Business and Industry Reference Library, which was inaugurated in 2003.

The City Hall was built in a classic Bauhaus style, representing a bold deviation from the Victorian design concepts predominant in the 1950's. This architectural style made the civic centre a landmark design and set the trend for the Hong Kong architecture at the time.