Brief Introduction to Kowloon

Name

• Kowloon Walled City, Hak Nam (translates as "Black Forest"), the City of Darkness
  

Topography

• Lion Rock hill to the North, and Kowloon Bay just at the South (as according to rules of feng shui that ensure harmony in a city)

Infrastructure

• Spaces are on average maximum of 4 feet wide, thus allowing only occasional bikes and not vehicles for travel in streets and alleys
• Only two buildings in the entire city have elevators
• Horizontal circulation: buildings were located in such close proximity that the rooftops could be used for circulation as well; corridors often connected stairwells in up to four adjacent buildings
• Inorganic waste transferred to rooftops; up until the 1970s, when the Kai Fong Association invited the Hong Kong government to help with garbage disposal, organic waste drainage consisted only of open drains at the edge of the already narrow streets
• Only 8 government standpipes existed by 1987 (with the first being installed in 1963): 1 of these was actually within the city while the remaining 7 stood at the perimeter--these provided potable water
  
• By 1987 there were 67 functioning wells
• Property owners chose to drill their own deeper wells, as the more shallow water table accessible to existing wells had been contaminated by heavy metals and oils from the drastic construction taking place as well as the accumulating organic waste that had seeped through the soil over years of poor drainage
• Electric pumps delivered well water to water tanks on rooftops; a random network of narrow pipes transferred this water supply to homes—although plumbing was chaotic, sewer system and water supply were not confused
• Electricity was stolen from the mains
• The Post delivered to the city; postmen themselves assigned numbers to doors
  

Land Use

• Site of criminal activity: opium dens, gambling dens, brothels, stronghold for Triads
• But also legitimate businesses: textile factories, toy plants, food plants, etc.
• The Salvation Army directed schools and kindergartens
• Doctor and dentist clinics in steady supply (properly educated in China, but simply lacked license to practice)
• Temple at heart of city
• Social atmosphere: mahjong tables set up every afternoon; caged pigeons on rooftops; traditional Chinese instruments practiced in alleys

Size/Scale

• On average ranged from 10 to 14-storeys high
• Built area of 26304m²
• Population of 33000 at its peak
  

Architect/Author

• The authors of the buildings were the residents themselves, who would often purchase an existing hut and hire a contractor to demolish and rebuild a multi-storey building
• Thus heights and materials varied, but all units were jammed right against one another
• The only building restraint was the height restriction necessitated by landing and departing planes at nearby Kai Tak Airport
• One building was an imitation of an early Hong Kong municipal housing block

Other Notes

“It was also, arguably, the closest thing to a truly self-regulating, self-sufficient, self-determining modern city that has ever been built” (9 City of Darkness)

“What fascinates about the Walled City is that, for all its horrible shortcomings, its builders and residents succeeded in creating what modern architects, with all their resources of money and expertise, have failed to: the city as ‘organic megastructure’, not set rigidly for a lifetime but continually responsive to the changing requirements of its user, fulfilling every need from water supply to religion, yet providing also the warmth and intimacy of a single huge household.” (13 City of Darkness)