Kowloon Walled City

     Kowloon walled city is a perfect example of the type of human settlement that can occur even with minimal water and transportation. It existed from about 1898 to 1993.

During World War II, the 0.3km^2 piece of ungoverned territory surged in population. Over the successive years it developed into an impressive makeshift megastructure lived in by 33 000 residence as of 1987. It had become a lawless city, thriving on crime yet also self-moderating. For residents there there were no taxes, no laws, and no official rules of any kind. There were unliscenced doctors and dentists, opium dens, brothels, gambling parlors, and everything else imaginable. The lower regions of the city had to be artificially illuminated; so many layers were built that no light could penetrate to the ground. The only thing that capped the buildings' height at fourteen storeys was the nearby airport and its low-flying aircraft.

     A region this dense and completely improvised in its urban design could probably not have existed without a municipal water supply. Water was one of a few services Hong Kong provided; the other was mail delivery. This shows how crucial water is to urban settlement. When compared to a typical slum, the only real difference in Kowloon Walled City is the availability of water. This alone allowed the population to soar, density to increase, and businesses and communities to thrive in an environment not extremely different from an officially regulated city – all things considered.

     Methods of transportation in the walled city were TK. The growth of the city was limited by the small patch of territory on which it could legally sit, so there was no need for high speed transportation (and no possibility for it in the narrow alleys). All travel was on foot, either through the labrynth of alleys on the ground or across the network of ladders that joined the rooftops of the roughly 350 buildings. This “infrastructure” was apparently viable on a small scale. It would be interesting to see the development of transportation routes had the city's growth not been limited.

Though there are slums worldwide, none developed in the same way that Kowloon Walled City did, and that is because of two fundamental differences: the availability of water and the restricted size, removing the need for transportation. Without either one of these, the city would not have been able to sustain itself over so many generations.


Works cited:


Basler, Barbara. "Hong Kong Journal; The Walled City, Home to Huddled Masses, Falls - New York Times." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/16/world/hong-kong-journal-the-walled-city-home-to-huddled-masses-falls.html (accessed December 10, 2010).


"Kowloon Walled City - Daily dose of inspiration." as i am - and as i want. http://www.as-i-am.fr/dose/index.php?post/2009/05/05/Kowloon-Walled-City (accessed December 10, 2010).


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Alex Willms
8 December 2010