Probably one of the weirdest comments ive heard. Two cities shouldnt even be compared. First things first, just a little bit of a difference in population.(Vancouver has 580,000 in the city where hong kong has just about 8 million and probably way more uncounted.) who knows how many ppl live in and around hong kong aswell. then try the age of the city and the zoning of the city which seems to allows skyscrapers anywhere possible. Anyways, last time i checked vancouver wasnt trying to be like HK.
Probably one of the weirdest comments ive heard. Two cities shouldnt even be compared. First things first, just a little bit of a difference in population.(Vancouver has 580,000 in the city where hong kong has just about 8 million and probably way more uncounted.) who knows how many ppl live in and around hong kong aswell. then try the age of the city and the zoning of the city which seems to allows skyscrapers anywhere possible. Anyways, last time i checked vancouver wasnt trying to be like HK.
Of course. No badmouthing of Vancouver was (or is) ever intended; I lived in Van for 5 years and loved the place.
Many of us Canadians freak out over the residential density of Downtown Vancouver...I was merely pointing out that when you see HK, it puts things into perspective!
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The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. (Bertrand Russell)
Of course. No badmouthing of Vancouver was (or is) ever intended; I lived in Van for 5 years and loved the place.
Many of us Canadians freak out over the residential density of Downtown Vancouver...I was merely pointing out that when you see HK, it puts things into perspective!
Oh alright Fair enough. Also didnt realize u were from vancouver, sorta thought u were pulling that straight outa ur ass for some reason. makes sense. sorry for goin all out there.
nevermind kwc. if the other stat is true, kowloon has an average pop density of 114kppsm. that's almost twice manhattan's, and larger too (2 million). and if that's true, then hong kong (city) might have, easily, the densest UA on earth.
Just realized I still have some photos from the various books on KWC hosted. Try abebooks.com if you want to buy them. So, for anyone interested (Click on the thumbnails for larger images):
City of Darkness - ISBN: 1873200137
This is by far the best book on the place, lots of amazing photos and some very interesting interviews with the residents.
Kowloon Walled City - ISBN:4582277365
Japanese book of black and white photography. Also very good, and the text is in both English and Japanese. Includes shots of the demolition. Might be a little hard to find.
Crack in the Wall - ISBN:0340488077
This book is quite cheap, but more about Jackie Pullinger bringing Jesus to crack addicts living in and around the walled city than the place itself. Uninspired photos, and pretty uninteresting text.
Last edited by olivepixel; Nov 9, 2005 at 2:49 PM.
I've wanted to buy "City of Darkness" for some time now. Absolutely fascinating stuff.
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The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. (Bertrand Russell)
^torn down by the British Colonial authorities in mid 1990s; now the site of KWC Park
__________________
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. (Bertrand Russell)
__________________
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. (Bertrand Russell)
__________________
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. (Bertrand Russell)
The Walled City was the "City of Joy" a la HongKong. An improverished,
crowded squalor where the poorest of the poor of HK huddled. A place
where people were allow to live in inhuman and deplorable conditions. A
place where all kinds of vices florished. A place that I once called
home.....
It was a relic of the "Peking Convention" signed in June 1897. It specified
that Kowloon and the New Territories were to be leased to Great Britain for
a hundred year. It reserved the old walled Kowloon City for the jurisdiction
of China and was off limit to the colonial law. Subsequent abandonment by the
Chinese officials left the place a favorite hideout for criminals because
of its status as a legal twilight zone. In order to avoid squirmishes with
China the colonial government turned a blind eye to drug dealing,
prostitution, gambling, loan-sharking etc. You could even find places that
served dog meat and cat meat .
Ironically, the place was quite safe for outsider. The Triads who ruled the
place made their money from "tourism" - HKers who wanted a taste of the
forbidden . So it was in their interest to keep the place safe. Except
for petty crimes and gang warfares, the place was relatively peaceful.
It occupied a site of about eight acres and was in close proximity to the HK
International Airport. We often joked about which of the four things that we
feared the most would deliver us from misery first - the airplanes, fire,
typhoon, and the colonial AO's (most of them were HKU alumni, BTW . Like
a couple of netters had already pointed out, the place is no more ......
I think the prosperity of HK were built on the back of people like those who
lived in the Walled City. They suffered and toiled in silence and asked for
very little in return. It's time to give them political parity so that they
can demand their fair share of the bounty and a voice in the government who
had abandoned them! http://groups.google.ca/group/rec.tr...f1ce90efefc25a
__________________
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. (Bertrand Russell)
__________________
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. (Bertrand Russell)
__________________
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. (Bertrand Russell)
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