WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.190 --> 00:00:04.690
Someone could make noodles, see patients, or repair machinery inside
2
00:00:04.769 --> 00:00:09.019
Kowloon Walled City while the buildings around them rose 12
3
00:00:09.019 --> 00:00:15.859
or 14 stories and pressed tightly together. By 1987, roughly 33,000
4
00:00:15.859 --> 00:00:18.980
people lived on about six and a half acres in
5
00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:23.500
buildings so tightly packed that some inner corridors barely saw daylight.
6
00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:27.559
So how did a place with limited and inconsistent formal
7
00:00:27.620 --> 00:00:32.229
enforcement keep functioning at all? The answer starts with a
8
00:00:32.289 --> 00:00:35.509
legal problem that sounds far too neat to create that
9
00:00:35.570 --> 00:00:40.399
much chaos. Kowloon began as a Qing military outpost. When
10
00:00:40.460 --> 00:00:44.219
Britain took control of the surrounding territory, the walled enclave
11
00:00:44.299 --> 00:00:47.979
remained tied to China, and neither side consistently treated it
12
00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:51.270
like an ordinary part of the city. Building rules were
13
00:00:51.329 --> 00:00:56.789
weakly enforced. Businesses operated without normal licenses. New rooms appeared
14
00:00:56.990 --> 00:01:00.090
anywhere someone could build them. The towers did not rise
15
00:01:00.189 --> 00:01:03.820
from a blueprint. By the time the famous photographs were taken,
16
00:01:04.299 --> 00:01:08.540
Kowloon looked like one enormous structure, but nobody had planned
17
00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:12.849
it that way. Over decades, families and landlords added floors,
18
00:01:13.209 --> 00:01:17.629
filled gaps, connected buildings, ran pipes through walls, and pulled
19
00:01:17.689 --> 00:01:22.310
cables through passageways. A flat might be about 250 square
20
00:01:22.390 --> 00:01:26.310
feet and shared by multiple families, while next door, or
21
00:01:26.370 --> 00:01:29.689
directly above it, a workshop produced food for the neighborhood.
22
00:01:30.299 --> 00:01:35.079
Lightweight partitions subdivided some units further, accommodating more residents while
23
00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:39.459
reducing privacy. A single room, divided again, had to carry
24
00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:44.719
multiple families. That cramped vertical mass was also a working economy.
25
00:01:45.319 --> 00:01:51.189
Inside the same packed block were clinics, schools, shops, factories, restaurants,
26
00:01:51.370 --> 00:01:55.689
and food producers. Noodle makers could supply local eateries without
27
00:01:55.790 --> 00:01:59.430
sending anything far. Doctors worked close to the people who
28
00:01:59.469 --> 00:02:03.599
needed them. The plumbing and electricity were patched together. Waste
29
00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:08.219
collection relied heavily on manual systems, contributing to poor sanitation.
30
00:02:08.819 --> 00:02:13.680
I find the combination unsettling. Clinics and factories operating alongside
31
00:02:13.819 --> 00:02:18.659
poor sanitation and improvised infrastructure. There was crime. There were
32
00:02:18.740 --> 00:02:23.340
illicit businesses. Accounts describe some local power structures as linked
33
00:02:23.479 --> 00:02:27.360
to organized crime, though the extent of that influence is unclear.
34
00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:31.430
But calling Kowloon lawless makes it sound as if nobody
35
00:02:31.490 --> 00:02:36.530
had rules, relationships, or routines. People raised families, earned money,
36
00:02:36.889 --> 00:02:41.060
traded services, and built informal systems to handle daily problems.
37
00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:46.500
Formal enforcement was limited and inconsistent. Social life wasn't. That
38
00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:51.210
informal order could not solve the housing crisis. Imagine moving
39
00:02:51.250 --> 00:02:55.060
through one of those dim corridors where improvised pipes and
40
00:02:55.150 --> 00:02:59.509
cables ran through narrow passages and minimal natural light reached
41
00:02:59.550 --> 00:03:04.330
the interior. Nearby, a clinic or small factory served the block.
42
00:03:04.949 --> 00:03:08.789
A home could be crowded while poor sanitation shaped daily life.
43
00:03:09.490 --> 00:03:13.900
Crime and unsafe construction made danger a real concern. What
44
00:03:13.969 --> 00:03:17.240
danger would you tolerate if the same crowded block provided
45
00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:23.439
your home, work, and services? By the 1980s, the overcrowding,
46
00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:27.860
poor sanitation, unsafe construction, and low quality of life had
47
00:03:27.900 --> 00:03:31.599
become impossible for authorities to ignore. In 1987, officials surveyed
48
00:03:31.620 --> 00:03:37.210
the enclave. although other accounts placed the peak population higher.
49
00:03:37.590 --> 00:03:41.530
The survey did not empty the block. After decades of
50
00:03:41.669 --> 00:03:47.900
limited and inconsistent formal enforcement, authorities used paperwork, compensation, and
51
00:03:47.939 --> 00:03:52.199
eviction notices to empty and dismantle the enclave. British and
52
00:03:52.259 --> 00:03:56.800
Chinese authorities set aside roughly 2.7 billion Hong Kong dollars
53
00:03:57.240 --> 00:04:02.000
for relocation and rehousing. Most residents moved into public housing
54
00:04:02.039 --> 00:04:07.620
estates between 1991 and 1992. The last holdouts were forcibly
55
00:04:07.699 --> 00:04:13.120
removed on July 2, 1992. Demolition began on March 23, 1993,
56
00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:18.639
and was completed in April 1994. After the rubble was
57
00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:22.639
cleared and the site landscaped, Kowloon Walled City Park opened
58
00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:27.689
on December 22, 1995. I find the compensation figure harder
59
00:04:27.709 --> 00:04:31.819
to picture than the density. More than 33,000 people moved
60
00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:36.699
out through years of surveys, negotiations, refusals, and forced removals.
61
00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:41.040
Authorities ultimately cleared the enclave for health and safety reasons.
62
00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:46.189
Residents had built clinics, shops, factories, and homes inside those buildings.
63
00:04:46.730 --> 00:04:47.829
They were also homes.
1
00:00:00.190 --> 00:00:04.690
Someone could make noodles, see patients, or repair machinery inside
2
00:00:04.769 --> 00:00:09.019
Kowloon Walled City while the buildings around them rose 12
3
00:00:09.019 --> 00:00:15.859
or 14 stories and pressed tightly together. By 1987, roughly 33,000
4
00:00:15.859 --> 00:00:18.980
people lived on about six and a half acres in
5
00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:23.500
buildings so tightly packed that some inner corridors barely saw daylight.
6
00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:27.559
So how did a place with limited and inconsistent formal
7
00:00:27.620 --> 00:00:32.229
enforcement keep functioning at all? The answer starts with a
8
00:00:32.289 --> 00:00:35.509
legal problem that sounds far too neat to create that
9
00:00:35.570 --> 00:00:40.399
much chaos. Kowloon began as a Qing military outpost. When
10
00:00:40.460 --> 00:00:44.219
Britain took control of the surrounding territory, the walled enclave
11
00:00:44.299 --> 00:00:47.979
remained tied to China, and neither side consistently treated it
12
00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:51.270
like an ordinary part of the city. Building rules were
13
00:00:51.329 --> 00:00:56.789
weakly enforced. Businesses operated without normal licenses. New rooms appeared
14
00:00:56.990 --> 00:01:00.090
anywhere someone could build them. The towers did not rise
15
00:01:00.189 --> 00:01:03.820
from a blueprint. By the time the famous photographs were taken,
16
00:01:04.299 --> 00:01:08.540
Kowloon looked like one enormous structure, but nobody had planned
17
00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:12.849
it that way. Over decades, families and landlords added floors,
18
00:01:13.209 --> 00:01:17.629
filled gaps, connected buildings, ran pipes through walls, and pulled
19
00:01:17.689 --> 00:01:22.310
cables through passageways. A flat might be about 250 square
20
00:01:22.390 --> 00:01:26.310
feet and shared by multiple families, while next door, or
21
00:01:26.370 --> 00:01:29.689
directly above it, a workshop produced food for the neighborhood.
22
00:01:30.299 --> 00:01:35.079
Lightweight partitions subdivided some units further, accommodating more residents while
23
00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:39.459
reducing privacy. A single room, divided again, had to carry
24
00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:44.719
multiple families. That cramped vertical mass was also a working economy.
25
00:01:45.319 --> 00:01:51.189
Inside the same packed block were clinics, schools, shops, factories, restaurants,
26
00:01:51.370 --> 00:01:55.689
and food producers. Noodle makers could supply local eateries without
27
00:01:55.790 --> 00:01:59.430
sending anything far. Doctors worked close to the people who
28
00:01:59.469 --> 00:02:03.599
needed them. The plumbing and electricity were patched together. Waste
29
00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:08.219
collection relied heavily on manual systems, contributing to poor sanitation.
30
00:02:08.819 --> 00:02:13.680
I find the combination unsettling. Clinics and factories operating alongside
31
00:02:13.819 --> 00:02:18.659
poor sanitation and improvised infrastructure. There was crime. There were
32
00:02:18.740 --> 00:02:23.340
illicit businesses. Accounts describe some local power structures as linked
33
00:02:23.479 --> 00:02:27.360
to organized crime, though the extent of that influence is unclear.
34
00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:31.430
But calling Kowloon lawless makes it sound as if nobody
35
00:02:31.490 --> 00:02:36.530
had rules, relationships, or routines. People raised families, earned money,
36
00:02:36.889 --> 00:02:41.060
traded services, and built informal systems to handle daily problems.
37
00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:46.500
Formal enforcement was limited and inconsistent. Social life wasn't. That
38
00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:51.210
informal order could not solve the housing crisis. Imagine moving
39
00:02:51.250 --> 00:02:55.060
through one of those dim corridors where improvised pipes and
40
00:02:55.150 --> 00:02:59.509
cables ran through narrow passages and minimal natural light reached
41
00:02:59.550 --> 00:03:04.330
the interior. Nearby, a clinic or small factory served the block.
42
00:03:04.949 --> 00:03:08.789
A home could be crowded while poor sanitation shaped daily life.
43
00:03:09.490 --> 00:03:13.900
Crime and unsafe construction made danger a real concern. What
44
00:03:13.969 --> 00:03:17.240
danger would you tolerate if the same crowded block provided
45
00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:23.439
your home, work, and services? By the 1980s, the overcrowding,
46
00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:27.860
poor sanitation, unsafe construction, and low quality of life had
47
00:03:27.900 --> 00:03:31.599
become impossible for authorities to ignore. In 1987, officials surveyed
48
00:03:31.620 --> 00:03:37.210
the enclave. although other accounts placed the peak population higher.
49
00:03:37.590 --> 00:03:41.530
The survey did not empty the block. After decades of
50
00:03:41.669 --> 00:03:47.900
limited and inconsistent formal enforcement, authorities used paperwork, compensation, and
51
00:03:47.939 --> 00:03:52.199
eviction notices to empty and dismantle the enclave. British and
52
00:03:52.259 --> 00:03:56.800
Chinese authorities set aside roughly 2.7 billion Hong Kong dollars
53
00:03:57.240 --> 00:04:02.000
for relocation and rehousing. Most residents moved into public housing
54
00:04:02.039 --> 00:04:07.620
estates between 1991 and 1992. The last holdouts were forcibly
55
00:04:07.699 --> 00:04:13.120
removed on July 2, 1992. Demolition began on March 23, 1993,
56
00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:18.639
and was completed in April 1994. After the rubble was
57
00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:22.639
cleared and the site landscaped, Kowloon Walled City Park opened
58
00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:27.689
on December 22, 1995. I find the compensation figure harder
59
00:04:27.709 --> 00:04:31.819
to picture than the density. More than 33,000 people moved
60
00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:36.699
out through years of surveys, negotiations, refusals, and forced removals.
61
00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:41.040
Authorities ultimately cleared the enclave for health and safety reasons.
62
00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:46.189
Residents had built clinics, shops, factories, and homes inside those buildings.
63
00:04:46.730 --> 00:04:47.829
They were also homes.
