The City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is a public research university located in Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994.

Sham Shui Po District is one of 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is the second poorest district in Hong Kong, with a predominantly working-class population of 405,869 in 2016 and the lowest median household income of all districts. Sham Shui Po has long been home to poorer new immigrants from mainland China. It also saw the birth of public housing in Hong Kong, as the government sought to resettle those displaced by a devastating fire in its slums. Sham Shui Po also hosted a Vietnamese refugee camp during the influx of migration in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.