I’ve literally been captivated by the pages of City of Darkness
Loving City of Darkness
March 13, 2009 @ 6:11 pm
My father lived in Kowloon Walled City
May 1, 2008 @ 8:03 pm
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So I’m hanging out with my dad today (my parents are here in Melbourne visiting) and somehow I got to talking with him about his life in Hong Kong before he moved to the United States. Out of curiosity, I ask my dad if he knows what Kowloon Walled City is, and amazingly, he tells me that HE LIVED THERE FOR 14 YEARS WHEN HE LIVED IN HONG KONG!
My fascination with this demolished city suddenly felt very personal. I began firing question after question at my dad about what life was like living in the “City of Darkness”. And his personal accounts were just incredible. I don’t think I’ve ever been so fascinated with my dad before. He basically recounted the history of Kowloon Walled City and the string of events in history that lead it to become notorious as a haven for illegal activity and lawlessness.
He says that there was prostitution, rampant gang activity, illegal businesses, and heaps of amateur dentists lining the side of the city that he lived on. My dad himself was a shoemaker while living there (my family has roots in the shoe business in Hong Kong) and he made shoes for money when he wasn’t at school.
To get to school, my dad had to walk from his house and through the center of this incredible makeshift city to get to the other side before taking a bus to attend classes.
Because of the deal between China and Great Britain at the time, British police had no power within the Kowloon city walls. My dad recalls thieves robbing people on the outskirts of the city and then immediately running into the Kowloon city center in order to evade capture. The British police were simply not allowed into Kowloon Walled City.
The street that determined where the British had power was called “Boundary Street“.
My interest in this place in Hong Kong’s history has been reignited. I can’t believe that I’ve known somebody this whole time who actually lived in there! I’ve read so many things about it over the past few months, and to hear a personal account of it all is just fantastic.
I’ve included some more photos of the city that I’ve never posted on Doobybrain before. Check them out inside.
Kowloon Walled City: City of Darkness
August 22, 2007 @ 3:03 am
City of Darkness is a book about the now-demolished Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong.
Kowloon Walled City was the most densely populated place on Earth before it was destroyed in 1993 and turned into a park. At its peak, the “city” had 50,000 inhabitants on 0.026 km² area of land (that, according to Wikipedia, is equal to about 1,900,000 people per square kilometer). By contrast, Manhattan (NYC) has a population density of 25,849/km². Yeah, so if you think Manhattan is crowded, then think of it with roughly twice the amount of people in the same area and that’s close to what Kowloon Walled City was like (although I bet it was a lot worse). Here’s another comparison chart of how densely populated KWC was.
Kowloon Walled City in 1973 – Population around 10,000
As bad as it was in terms of living conditions, looking at photos of Kowloon Walled City makes me wish it was still around so that I can go and visit it this coming summer [I'll be in Hong Kong in June 2008]. The place looked like it would be a great place to explore and rummage around especially with its make-shift architecture and numerous alleys and oddities (despite the unsanitary conditions and such). It reminds me a lot of comic book cities or something.
Unfortunately, the location was largely undocumented and it looks like the book above is one of the most complete and easy-to-access resources I could find on KWC. If anybody knows of any other place I can see photos and read information, please pass that info along to me!
There are great aerial photos of KWC at deputydog.
Anyway, I’d love to get a hold of City of Darkness and check it out and read up on the history of this place. Maybe when I’m in Hong Kong in June I’ll be able to visit the park that lies on Kowloon Walled City’s foundation. We’ll see. :)
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