Most people aren't aware that once there was a place that wasn't really part of any Country. It was technically a part of China, but the Chinese Government didn't rule over it. There weren't any bureaucrats telling people what to do, no Government agents, or ""Protective Regulations""!!! It became the most densely populated place on Earth!!! It was called the "Walled City of Kowloon in the heart of Downtown Hong Kong.
Kowloon had it's roots stretching all of the way back to around 960 ad.! The Chinese "Song Dynasty" set up an outpost there to manage the trading of salt. In the mid 1800's Britain and China fought two wars against each other, because China had outlawed the trading of Opium, and the British East India Company was losing money over it. In the end, Britain won, and set up a military fort at Kowloon. Empires always try their hardest to bankrupt themselves by extending their militaries to protect the business interests of the ruling class.
By 1898 Britain controlled all of Hong Kong, but China still claimed Kowloon city. In a treaty signed that year, the Chinese Government was allowed to keep some diplomatic officials there (So long as they didn't interfere with British business interests.)
Japan invaded Hong Kong during WW2, and tore down the walls around Kowloon City, reusing the materials to build runways for a military air strip, which eventually became the Hong Kong airport.
At the end of the War, China (I assume wanting to ""Save Face", or preserve their "Honor".) refused to give up control of Kowloon City. The British took a "Hands off" approach, while China couldn't control this small area surrounded by British Territory. Kowloon City was about 2.8 Hectares in size (About 6 1/2 acres.) Refugees fleeing Communist control in China flooded into Kowloon.
Space was at a premium, and soon the streets were narrowed down to small passage ways. People built up one floor above the other and the "Walled City" became a maze of passage ways between super small apartments, and businesses. Perhaps several thousand small businesses sprang up. Everything from machine shops, to Noodle factories for Hong Kong's 5 star restaurants, to Brothels, "Unlicensed" Doctors and Dentist's offices, and shops that made plastic cases for CDs.
As I researched Kowloon City for this posting, I watched many many "Documentaries" about the City....
What struck me deeply was that the producers of these "Documentaries" always tried so hard to paint the place as a horrible, and disgusting existence!
What the producers of these "Cinematic Gems" couldn't seem to entirely edit out of the footage, is that whenever they showed a resident of "The City", more often than not.... They were smiling or laughing!!!
One BBC reporter even remarked that the fact that food was made in this "Dreadful Place" made his "Blood run cold".
You'll Remember that the BBC, is the media outlet which reported Building 7 of the World Trade Center had collapsed on 9/11, while over the reporter's shoulder Building 7 was still prominently standing in the background. The building collapsed 20 minutes later.
Much of these "Documentaries" were devoted to shocking the viewer with shots of the "Dank, Dark, and Wet" Passage ways that traversed the City. The tiny hovels, as families were 'Crammed" into small spaces!!! Today, the "Tiny House Movement" is taking the World by storm. People are embracing the idea of "Simplifying" and turning ones's back on the "Consumerist" viewpoint of modern society. Seems like the "Tiny Homes" of Kowloon fit the bill perfectly.
So long as the people there didn't construct dwellings over 14 stories high, and risk an Airliner from the nearby Airport crashing into the building, Hong Kong "Officials" didn't interfere with construction techniques. As near as I can tell, there was never a great conflagration of fire, in modern times there. People being electrocuted from substandard wiring wasn't a problem, and the buildings never fell down (In fact when the British and Chinese Governments evicted everyone in 1973, and tore the place down, it took almost a year to demolish the place with wrecking balls because it was so sturdily built.)
Sure there was drug abuse, prostitution, gambling, and other forms of vice, but 99% of the people there weren't involved, or bothered by these victim less crimes. A couple of "Triad" gangs were in charge of these "Crimes", but for most people the only involvement the gangs they had was to (For a fee) arbitrate differences between Residents of the City.
Otherwise you could live your life there as you pleased!!
Anyone who could afford the rent on a small space, could start and run whatever business they chose. The hygiene of food production concerns was disciplined by the free market!!! If the Chef of a 5 star Hong Kong restaurant didn't want the reputation of getting his customers sick, he made damn sure the food was safe.
People for generations lived out their lives, free from over burdensome taxes, and regulations that only served to pad the pockets of corporations. You could do whatever you chose for income, whether that was prostituting your body, or making Chinese Noodles for Restaurants, or even fitting "Patients" with Dentures for a fraction of the cost of "Regulated Dentists". If you wanted to add a room onto your 'Flat" you could do that without the incredible expenses that modern construction techniques require.
Living there might not have been for everyone, but the freedoms from "Government Protections" were enough that by 1990 according to Wikipedia, over 50,000 people inhabited this place. Anyone could walk out of the door, at any time they chose, and join the rest of Hong Kong society. Instead... The population swelled to the point that this 6 1/2 acre area became the most densely populated place on Earth!!!
By 1973, the British and Chinese Governments couldn't take it any more! So much commerce going un-taxed. So many people living for so long without "Regulation", or control!!! They evicted all of the inhabitants, and eventually built a park in Kowloon's place. As Centrally controlled fiat currencies fail, and Governments become "Failed States" crushed by the weight of their own debt, maybe, just maybe, a free place like this where people go about their lives, smiling and laughing can exist once again!!!
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Great research piece here. I've seen those apartments in movies I think. They're really close to the flight path of jets going to and from HK. (At least they were anyways) Very interesting part of pre-revolutionary Chinese history.
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You may be thinking of the Jean Claude Van Damme movie from 1988 titled "Bloodsport."
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Could very well be. Lots of Jackie Chan movies were filmed in HK too. That might also be the source of my mental image. :p
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A very interesting post. Perhaps we will see something arising in the near future that echoes these ideas. The writing is on the wall. It's only a matter of time when the world will hit the reset button...
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That was a really interesting post. I can just imagine what it must have been like to live in a place like that. I might get claustrophobic with all the small spaces, but exploring the place must have been really interesting.
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