Former ‘Darkest Settlement’ Kowloon Walledโ City Demolished,โข Now a Public Park
Hong kong โค – โคOnce a notorious, lawless enclave, Kowloon Walled โคCity has been transformed from the world’s most densely โpopulated settlement into a public โคpark, preserving remnants of its unique โhistory. The city,which existed for over a century,was finally demolished between Marchโฃ 1993 and Aprilโ 1994 after decades of neglect and escalating concerns over public health and safety.
Originally โa Chinese military garrison, the Walled City grew into a self-governing, virtuallyโข unregulated โคarea after the British โand Chinese governments effectivelyโข ceded control.By the 1980s, approximately 35,000 people lived within its confines, packedโฃ into a labyrinthine network of โinterconnected buildings.
The city’s growth was organic and chaotic. โInโฃ theโค 1950s, โhomes were typically semi-permanent structures of one or two floors. By the 1960s, concreteโข buildings of four to five stories began to appear. The 1970s โขsaw structures exceeding ten floors, built so closely โคtogetherโฃ that windows โขoftenโ faced directly into neighboring walls.
This unchecked progress fostered a breeding ground โคforโ criminal activity.โค Kowloon Walled City โbecame โinfamous as a โhavenโ for drugโค factories and feared gangsters. Simultaneously, it supported a thriving informal economy, with numerous home-based factories producing toys, plastics, and food to sustain residents.
Growingโค concerns over health, fire hazards, and air pollution โฃprompted the British government to approve โฃdemolition plans in January 1987, followingโข an agreement toโค return Hong Kong โฃto China. Despite initial resistance from residents, the demolition proceeded, with โall inhabitants relocated and compensated.
Today, the site is Kowloon walled City โPark. โฃPreserved within the park areโ remnants of the original city, including the Yamen Building, constructed inโ theโข 1800s and now serving โas a military headquarters, and restored sections of the original southern entrance gates.
