The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), is a department in the

Government of Hong Kong The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the executive authorities of Hong Kong SAR. It was formed on 1 July 1997 in accordance with the Sino- ...

. It reports to the Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau, headed by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism. It provides leisure and cultural activities for the people of Hong Kong, which was also one of the tasks of the former

Urban Council 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 council's executive arm, the Urban Servic ...

, and

Regional Council Regional Council may refer to: * Regional Council (Hong Kong), disbanded in 1999 ** Regional Council (constituency) Regional council may refer to: * Regional council (Cameroon) * Regional council (France), the elected assembly of a region of Fran ...

and Home Affairs Bureau. It manages various public facilities around Hong Kong including public libraries, swimming pools, and sports centres. The well-known

Hong Kong Cultural Centre The Hong Kong Cultural Centre () is a multipurpose performance facility in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Located at Salisbury Road, Hong Kong, Salisbury Road, it was built by the former Urban Council and, since 2000, has been administered by the ...

and Hong Kong Space Museum are among several museums also managed by the department. It was established in 2000 and its headquarters is in Shatin,

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

. The department was previously headed by the Secretary for Home Affairs before July 2022.

List of directors for LCSD

* Thomas Chow Tat-ming (2000–2009) * Betty Fung Ching Suk-yee, JP (2009–2014) * Michelle Li Mei-sheung, JP (2014–2019) * Vincent LIU Ming-kwong, JP

Facilities and services

Museums

* Flagstaff House Museum of Teaware * Hong Kong Film Archive * Hong Kong Heritage Museum * Hong Kong Museum of Art * Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence * Hong Kong Museum of History * Hong Kong Railway Museum * Hong Kong Science Museum * Hong Kong Space Museum * Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre * Law Uk Folk Museum * Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum * Sam Tung Uk Museum * Sheung Yiu Folk Museum

Parks

Most public parks and gardens are managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

Public libraries

Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL) consists of 67 static and 10 mobile libraries offering a total collection of 12.3 million items of books, audio/video materials, newspapers and periodicals, etc. Among the most significant libraries are the Hong Kong Central Library, Kowloon Public Library, and Sha Tin Public Library.

Sports and fitness

The LCSD operates two stadia (

Hong Kong Stadium Hong Kong Stadium is the main sports venue of Hong Kong. Redeveloped from the old Government Stadium, it reopened as Hong Kong Stadium in March 1994. It has a maximum seating capacity of 40,000, including 18,260 at the main level, 3,173 at exec ...

and Mong Kok Stadium) and numerous sports grounds, indoor sporting halls and courts, and public swimming pools. It also manages and provides

lifeguards A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and CPR/ AED fi ...

at gazetted beaches.

Sports Subvention Scheme

Under the Sports Subvention Scheme, the LCSD provides recurrent subvention to 58 national sports associations (NSAs) in Hong Kong, at levels ranging from around HK$0.5 million to HK$10 million (in 2011–12). Until 2004–2005, NSAs received subventions from the statutory Hong Kong Sports Development Board.Legislative Council Panel on Home Affairs LC Paper No. CB(2)772/11-12(04)
/ref> NSAs are members of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, which is the

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

in Hong Kong responsible for the co-ordination of all local sports organizations and promotion of sports in Hong Kong.

References

Hong Kong government departments and agencies {{HongKong-gov-stub