Punkimus
61718
645
15
I think I've favorited it about 15 times too
Feb 26, 2024 12:06 AM
Punkimus
61718
645
15
I think I've favorited it about 15 times too
tchrbrian
The “ checker board “ approach at Kai Tak airport…
AzraelWalker
Gods I love Kowloon, everything about it is fascinating. The way it started as a military compound (which had a wall around it, hence the name), the way it grew organically, the way people developed a unique way of navigating the place due to how maze like it was, the hole thing mesmerizes me.
BlueskydragonFX
FailedCrate
As any educated being knows, Anarchy is the absence of might and rule. Not rules and laws. If that's also missing it's called Anomy, which's surely bad and also what people actually mean when misusing "Anarchy" every so often.
BillandTedsUnremarkableTripToCostCo
chrisjfinlay
I loved this part of Shenmue 2. Aside from those plank walking QTEs…
stopdoggybarking3
I knew a HK cop who was friendly with some of the residents who delivered prepared food to nearby noodle shops, he said that it was far from an anarchy, only by being tightly controlled could so many people live so closely together without killing each other.
UsuallyARabbit
Rich people: “what if it was larger and worse” 🚨🚨Mukaab has entered the field🚨🚨
TheGreatAtomsk
without the walled city the cyberpunk genre would be quite different from what we have today.
koops
Mega block 1.
v
garpolky
35HKD is like, less than 5USD . . .
NZSheeps
DarwinGreen5
hopefully the people in power don't look at this as an example for "affordable housing".
Polymathena
I met someone who saidbshe was from Kowloon. I knew nothing of it at the time. She was a formidable presence.
riisitauti
There's a book called City of Darkness - Life in Kowloon Walled City (1993). A very fascinating read, it's filled with loads of pictures from the inside too. People lived a surprisingly normal life there.
xBenoitBallsx
The pic made me immediately think of High Rise by JG Ballard
Gorzag
Yes, it's quoted in the bottom left corner of the picture.
JarJarDrinks
I am surprised it hasn't burned down yet
fformulaa
MickeyCallahan
My guess is too much leaking water, lol
rockhydra
They tore it down as it was disrupting air traffic to the airport.
RevolutionOnHerLips
I've always been fascinated by this place since I learned it existed. Kowloon may be gone but HK still has a housing problem. I've read articles from only a few years ago still talking about cage/coffin homes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedspace_apartment
elten
here an older article on those https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/29/hong-kong-coffin-homes-horror-my-week
andydicktracymorganfairchild
I wonder if the residents all got bought out or if it was just like, we're bulldozing now you'll prolly wanna leave
DoseOfScience
China, so they probably just set off the explosives to knock it down and then bulldozed the scrap.
ShipShapeDoubleGreat
It was ruled by the British then. Britain didn’t turn over control of HK to China until 1999
Redshadow09
Always a distant fan because the story of this is mind boggling. Did architects by chance save a layout of the entire structure before they demolished it? Imagine recreating this.
SwiftyGuy
I think there was some Japanese that mapped it out and it was immense, jam-packed with hardly any real space for living. Tons of places with no natural light. If it was safely done with far better safety for people with actual governmental services and actual oversight, far better and more humane, liveable spaces, maybe it could work in places like the arctic where it’s dark for half the year.
DangerTrain
So if it was completely different, basically
OhIfIMust
I've seen a few documentaries about this; fascinating stuff, really makes you grateful for not being worse off than you might be. I like how there was so much food production for Hong Kong restaurants, and wonder if the diners ever had the slightest idea of the conditions in which their noodles & dumplings were being made.
InnsmouthTourist
This place is still held up by libertarian nutters as their dream world
OhIfIMust
Yeah, well, they can have their rats, refuse piles, lack of AC, and 16-hour workday sweatshops.
BlueDsc
I still think the Kowloon Walled City is a criminally underutilized locale for video games. I can only think of a small number of games that make use of it.
16807
I'm only familiar with Shenmue II featuring it.
NepLeet
Kowloon was a huge inspiration for Guild Wars' Kaineng City. That place was a twisted, convoluted nightmare to traverse, it was awesome!
MAGICxMURDERxBAG
By technicality, Deus Ex: Human Revolution's Hengsha lower half is the closest
Redshadow09
That place was wild ever since I saw that I wanted to see all of the lower half and upper half
Dracology
I think one of the Shadowrun games used it. But yeah I imagine its great asthetic but horrible for level designing.
channelranger
Shadowrun: Hong Kong, yeah.
JamesInTasmania
IIRC, the triads acted as police, fire brigade and all the other government services. As long as they got their cut, you were safe.
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JamesInTasmania
Kinda, for sure!
PerpetuityPhoto
Something I keep telling people: If there is no power structure in place, give it five minutes, there will be. And the one that comes into play spontaneously will have WAY less oversight than one that is planned and carefully implemented. The pipeline from Anarchy to Fascism is a straight line.
JamesInTasmania
I sometimes wonder what the power structure would be like if Musk etc.,get to start their own colonies on Mars. Feudal lord and serfs, I'm guessing.
Milkarius
I feel like it'd be scarily similar to some of the stories of old coal towns. Get paid in company bucks to buy everything you need at company stores! Except the trip outside is slightly further than next town over
PerpetuityPhoto
Probably closer to absolute oligarchical fascism from the very beginning. Musk refuses to accept ANYONE ever telling him No.