Kowloon was one of the most crowded walled cities in the world. Located within Hong Kong, it had a dense population of over 50,000 inhabitants within 0.025 km2…(that’s 1,923,076 inhabitants per km2!).
After war strife between the Chinese, Japanese and English, the city became abandoned and soon invaded by squatters, resulting in a haven for illegal activities like prostitution and drug trafficking. This area was not frequented by police because neither the Chinese nor British wanted to take responsibility for cleaning up the mess that had become the Walled City of Kowloon – the area survived without having to adhere to national laws, it was like it’s own mini-country.
The squatters transformed the buildings of the Walled City by adding additional floors, building bridges between structures and squeezing even more small structures into the already congested area. The result? Kowloon was like a tight maze, around every corner lay some sort of illegal activity and extreme poverty. Plans to demolish the Walled City were made in 1987 when the population was at 33,000 residents, and the entire sector was evacuated and destroyed to make way for a park. Before the demolition, a Japanese team dedicated over a week to exploring the Walled City in order to put together this very intricate and interesting cross-section map that shows how the city was built, and the activities that took place in every nook and cranny (as indicated by the human forms in pink silhouette). A pretty awesome depiction of such a dense area, don’t you think?
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RT @kyrillus: The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/W8ONJW2W @GreatDismal
KOWLOON CITY MAPPED OUT BY HAND via @ThatsLikeWHOA http://t.co/cmie747L
RT @kyrillus: The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/W8ONJW2W @GreatDismal
RT @kyrillus: The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/W8ONJW2W @GreatDismal
RT @kyrillus: The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/W8ONJW2W @GreatDismal
RT @kyrillus: The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/W8ONJW2W @GreatDismal
“@kyrillus: The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/6fvRerAb @Darisdiego
RT @kyrillus: The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/W8ONJW2W @GreatDismal
KOWLOON CITY MAPPED OUT BY HAND via @ThatsLikeWHOA http://t.co/jOpZdTQU
The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/Eo743UlK v. @kyrillus
Just for clarification – ‘Kowloon’ refers to the entire Kowloon Peninsula, not just Kowloon Walled City. Kowloon is still the most heavily populated part of Hong Kong.
RT @GreatDismal RT @kyrillus The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/PMb3Civ2 @GreatDismal
RT @kyrillus: The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/W8ONJW2W @GreatDismal
RT @kyrillus: The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/W8ONJW2W @GreatDismal
RT @kyrillus: The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/W8ONJW2W @GreatDismal
RT @kyrillus: The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/W8ONJW2W @GreatDismal
Brutal: Kowloon City Mapped Out By Hand http://t.co/sDsraEdF via @zite
@FloodKings @TonyEddicott : The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/YawKxvQ5 [You might like this.]
RT @shardcom: @FloodKings @TonyEddicott : The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/YawKxvQ5 [You might like this.]
RT @kyrillus: The Walled City of Kowloon, Mapped & Modelled. http://t.co/W8ONJW2W @GreatDismal
If designed properly, a city like that could be ecologically efficient solving the major issue of housing for low-income earning families.