Kowloon Walled City

In Hong Kong there is an area that is known as the Kowloon Walled City Park. Its name seems misleading – it is a green, lush place filled with trees, nothing like a walled city at all. However, less than ten years ago, in this small area, there stood one of the most densely populated places on earth.

The Walled City’s origins go back as far as the Song Dynasty, between 960-1279. Built mainly as an outpost to monitor salt trade, little happened to it for many centuries. It was not until the early 19^th century – during military involvements with Britain and, later, Japan -- that improvements began on it, with the addition of a formidable wall to make the outpost into a fort. By 1898, it had a population of 700 living within it. The following year, British forces attacked the Walled City but the soldiers there had already fled, leaving behind 150 residents.

The British claimed it for the next few decades, although little was done to it during that time. In 1933 plans to demolish the old, dilapidated buildings within the city were carried out, leaving just the old yamen, a school and one house. The once formidable wall was later demolished by Japan during its occupation of Hong Kong.

After the war, 2,000 refugees poured into the Walled City and when all attempts to force them out failed, Britain threw up its hand and decided to let it be. No government rule saw its becoming a hotbed for criminal activity and it eventually fell into the hands of the Triads, who had in their grip all the brothels, opium dens and gambling parlours. Even the police were reluctant to go into the Walled City without major back up. However, in the early 70s, thousands of raids were carried out that saw over 2,500 arrests and managed to bring the City under control – particularly as there was a lot of support from the residents.

Work was carried out to improvement conditions within the City. Government supported water pipes and mail deliveries were set up, lights were add to the streets, as sunlight rarely reached the lower levels, and small business start-ups began to thrive. Unlicensed dentists and medical centres took the opportunity of being beyond jurisdiction and legal services, but mostly the inhabitants lived peacefully, and later additions included charities, welfare groups and religious societies.

With the quality of life and conditions within the City being far behind the rest of Hong Kong, however, it was decided that the City had to go. HK$2.7 billion was spent on compensating the residents and moving them to new locations – some of them needing to be forcibly removed. By April 1994, the City was gone and construction on the Walled City Park began.

Photos of the Walled City show its cramped, condensed structure. Most buildings were around ten stories high, with alleyways only one to two metres across cutting through them. The majority of apartments inside the City were only around 23m square, although balconies and rooftop additions were utilised to create extra space. Much of the rooftop areas were full of water tanks, antennas and clotheslines. The upper part of the City had a maze of staircases and passageways that meant one could cross the City without needing to go down to the ground.

When the demolition plans were announced in 1987, a proper census was taken of all the inhabitants within the City and a population of 33,000 was estimated. Considering the small area that the City covered, this meant that the population density was 1,255,000 per square kilometre. Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated areas in itself, has in comparison a population density of 6,700 per square kilometre.