ILLEGAL STRUCTURES IN HONG KONG / WALLED CITY

[SUPREMO]

Besides the attractive skyline of Hong Kong, there is also the BAD side of HK skyscrapers. And yeah there are alot of ghettos and housing projects in HK!

http://www.akaikutsu.com/cityofdarkness/images/76-77.jpg
The Infamous Kowloon Walled City before it was demolished!

http://www.tonyleung.com/hongkong/nathan/990307134509A9.9S264Z115F1.jpg The PJs!

SHAM SHUI PO

http://www.tonyleung.com/hongkong/nathan/990307134011A6.0S132Z115F1.jpg

http://www.tonyleung.com/hongkong/nathan/990307134307A6.6S149Z38F1.jpg Note the long stretch of the signs.

http://www.tonyleung.com/hongkong/nathan/990307133953A6.0S129Z115F1.jpg

[Kris]

The Walled City was something.

[SUPREMO]

The Kowloon Walled City was called The City of Darkness. It is a den for all sorts of elements from triads, to drug addicts and unlicensed dentists. It said that the walled city was not part of the deal when Hong Kong was leased to the British. The Walled City was really part of mainland China and is an invisible border. So if anyone gets caught inside the Walled City (during the British rule), the arrested can tell that courts that they were on Chinese soil. Now, The Walled City is a park but they preserved the yamen.

To anyone who watched BloodSport, this is the place they hold the kumite!

Here are more images of the walled city

http://www.twenty4.co.uk/on-line/issue001/project02/KWC/history4.jpg circa 1974

http://www.twenty4.co.uk/on-line/issue001/project02/KWC/alley2.jpg

http://www.twenty4.co.uk/on-line/issue001/project02/KWC/ext1.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/kowloonparks/20030206/RIMG1300.jpg The Walled City today, now a park! The buildings in the background are not part of the WC

[Stern]

There's something very mysterious about the Walled City. Its haunting, I would have loved to have the chance to explore it.

[TLOZ Link5]

Wow.

[SUPREMO]

Some of the interesting things about the Walled City is the formation of the mid-rise tenements and how they packed together. It is very mysterious indeed. If not the outer structure, it's also what's inside is also strange. The only thing is that, The Walled City is one of the nastiest slums to have ever erected from The Far East

Here's a website worth checking out about the Walled City
http://www.flex.co.jp/kowloon/home_e.html

Besides The Walled City, The Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui was also strange. It's also one of the cheapest motels in HK!

[SUPREMO]

There are also book on the Walled City but the best one to check out is the one by Jackie Pullinger

[tino]

from Tino. I've just been reading Jackie Pullingers book- Chasing the Dragon. Incredible story from the inside of the WC, circa 1970's.

[TLOZ Link5]

Interestingly enough, crime was lower in the "informal" Walled City than in the rest of Hong Kong — contrary to the beliefs of the well-heeled gentry of the "formal" city. How interesting that illegal settlements like the Walled City fostered such a diverse economy and a range of residents.

One of the books that I'm reading for my Cities in a Global Context class is Rediscovering Dharavi, which is about the giant slum in the heart of Mumbai which is arguably the densest and most populated in the world. The book also confronts the stereotypes of slums fostered and perpetuated by mainstream society.

[Ninjahedge]

TLAZ, the question would be, were those slums responsible for crime of the SURROUNDING area?

A lot of times, criminals have enough smarts to go to where people HAVE money to try to steal it..... ;)

[TLOZ Link5]

You can argue that case, but if the high-end residential areas surrounding the informal city have the potential through their design and layout to be more dangerous and leave their residents more vulnerable than in the slums...

It all goes back to Jane Jacobs, who in fact is cited in the Dharavi book.