Edit to add wiki, sorry folks! working link
this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2025
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Kowloon walled city was so incredible. I wish I could've seen it in person. Ive seen so many pictures and read so much about it. It was even used as a movie set after the tenants were relocated. It was so unique. Not that the concept is unique, slums exist all over the place. It was the confined area, the total lack of any administrative authority, and its incredible density that made it unique. Years ago there were a couple reddit posters who had either lived there or had gone there for school. Contrary to wider media narratives many of the people who were displaced from there actually regarded the city with a degree of fondness. The close proximity promoted a tight knit community.
Ultimately living there would have been likely pretty miserable, especially during the brutal Hong Kong summers. But something about the pictures of the dark alleyways with the distant sunlight barely peeking through the pipes and wires makes for such an interesting environs. It was famously served by only a single postman, and had few if any street addresses and a total lack of organizational structure. So he just sorta knew where everyone was, and how to get around its labyrinthine structure.
That sounds incredibly violent
It largely wasn't. For all that I have special interest in the city, it was objectively quite bad for many reasons. Not the least of which was the abysmal state of the plumbing and electrical. The place had major sanitation issues. It was also at bad risk of fire and collapse. It had to be torn down.
I believe they offered most of the tenants money to relocate. Kowloon walled city had been built specifically because the space it occupied was in a Grey area with regards to jurisdiction and administration. It was nominally belonging to China, but existed surrounded on all sides by British Hong Kong. The British refused to do anything there besides basic water/electrical/mail. And China couldn't administrate there because they couldn't physically reach it. Once Hong Kong was returned to China, there would no longer have been a purpose to Kowloon Walled City. So it was going to be torn down eventually. I know some tenants refused to leave as long as possible, but once water and stuff was turned off they capitulated.