Edit to add wiki, sorry folks! working link
demolition began in March 1993 and was completed in April 1994.
:( fuck the State
this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2025
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It was demolished in 1993. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City
Wiki says it had 35,000 residents. Based on the size, it would be equivalent to 3 million people per square mile. Thats bonkers.
Part of it while filming a Jackie Chan movie.
Also a killer movie set in it came out last year. Featuring Samo kam-bo hung.
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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.
after the tenants were relocated
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.
How are you posting on TIL without at least giving us a Wikipedia article? For shame OP! Today only you, and nobody else learns!
Jokes aside, on the topic of this amazing walled city, apart from it being an admittedly filthy anarchic crime-ridden shithole, it genuinely is an intensely interesting place straight out of a cyberpunk setting, it genuinely was a wonder of the world
This. Not as a joke.
I forgot! I had it copied and forgot to paste in the body. the shame
an intensely interesting place straight out of a cyberpunk setting
It is, in fact, the actual setting of Shadowrun: Hong Kong. So the SR writers at the very least must agree with you.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, it was controlled by local triad gangs
That doesn't sound like anarchy.
Would love to see a 3d recreation of as much as possible. Would be cool to go thru all the videos and documentation of it and build a real 3d world from that
William Gibson writes about this in his book idoru
Thanks! Always nice seeing Cyberpunk recommendations. Put it on my wishlist!
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Ask and you shall receive. Literally popped up last night for me. How convenient. Sure, it's Minecraft, but still pretty cool.
Kowloon Walled City modeled in Minecraft!
https://youtu.be/IWZQB9zDD3Y
thanks to @linkinkampf19 for the link!
Lol I just saw that video yesterday and was going to show it here, but you beat me to it. Great video! I'd literally never heard of the place and now it's popped up twice in two days.
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There's been a version of it in second life for about 20 years I think.
Have a link to it? Or a screenshot?
None on hand at the moment. If you log in though, search on the world map for Kowloon. Google image and video search will also turn up results if you enter in secondlife and Kowloon.
The sim itself isn't trying to be absolutely authentic. Though the neon lit main street is fairly representative. And it does have an authentic display of what residential quarters would look like.
See you, space cowboy.
the real folk blues!
sitting in muddy water
isn't so bad once in a while
if it ends after the first time
I was talking to a guy in Hong Kong about the housing there. It is obviously very expensive but they have public housing. The public housing has income limits and a very long waiting list. He said by the time you hit the end of the waiting list your income has usually crept up past the cutoff limit.
There's a weird, cool anime that takes place in a bizarre version of it called Kowloon Generic Romance.
Note that, as far as I can tell, the "Second Kowloon" depicted in the show is a much nicer place than the original Kowloon Walled City was.
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You should link Wikipedia or something
Yes I should have, edited to correct, sorry!
I really wish I had to opportunity to check that place out, never going to happen though 😞
About the best we can do now: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_reCv-ix-So
this was really cool. thanks for sharing.
Great video, just wish I would have been able to see it in person. But it was destroyed before I even existed...
Wow! The level of ambient noise is insane!
~~Wiki link is malformed~~
Thanks!
Sorry! Fixed it now.
Haven't seen Twilight of the Warriors : Walled In yet but it's set in Kowloon City. Learnt about it on the Corridor show, fight scenes look dope
The trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnNhVxWzmhM
I watched it recently and would highly recommend! Fight scenes are indeed super well done.
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Just don't go in there looking for SCP-184. It'll drive you mad.
A few documents indicated that SCP-184 could be brought into a home and allowed to affect the dwelling for 50 pounds sterling per half hour. These documents were unconfirmed by residents.
Not a bad deal
And you'll probably fall into a pit made of jade horses
Black Ops level set in this was good
There was also a pretty big chunk of Shenmue 2 that took place here. I remember getting lost a bit trying to find the classic arcade machines.
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