The Densest City on Earth

- [Narrator] What you are looking at is considered the most densely populated place that ever existed. On an area of just 6. 5 acres, or four football fields, dozens of individual buildings have merged into one solid organism that houses, shops, restaurants, churches, private homes, and virtually everything that makes a city.

While the outside facing apartments get to enjoy sunlight, a vast majority are located within this block, full of dark pathways. It is a giant, urban maze that attracted all kinds of people with reasons to hide. (slow heavy music) This is Kowloon Walled City.

To understand just how incredibly closely packed people lived here, let's compare this city with other places. Take the East Village in New York City, located in Lower Manhattan. There is a small park in the center, but other than that, it is a pretty dense neighborhood with historic row houses, and more recent large apartment buildings.

Based on the 2010 US census, just over 44,000 people live here. That results in a population density significantly higher than for all of New York City, and New York is the most densely populated city in the United States. By all means, this is a dense place, but let's compare it to Kowloon Walled City.

In 1987, a survey estimated that 33,000 people live here. The density is simply astounding, and in reality, the number might have been even bigger, with some estimates going up to 50,000 people. Perhaps the strangest thing about Kowloon Walled City, however, is just how abruptly it ends.

While everything is crammed into this tight block of buildings, behind the sharp walls of the city there are relatively spaced out buildings, and even a park with sports fields. So why was everything crammed into this small block? The answer is that Kowloon Walled City wasn't part of the rest of Hong Kong, but had its own legal status.

The Walled City began as nothing more than a small Chinese military outpost, stationing about 10 guards. It really started to take shape more than a century later when the outpost was expanded by the construction of a larger fort. At the same time, the nearby harbor of Canton began to gain importance.

Chinese tea was a hot commodity for British traders, who purchased it in staggering volumes, allowing this region to prosper. However, the trade relationship was notably unbalanced. While the British bought large quantities of tea, the Chinese had little need for goods from Europe.

To improve this trade balance, the British began to illegally import opium from India to China. This scheme proved effective, with the widespread consumption of the drug escalating rapidly. This led to an addiction epidemic which wreaked havoc on the Chinese economy.

Recognizing this crisis, the Imperial government took decisive action to halt the opium trade, but this move led to a heated conflict, which would later be known as the First Opium War between Great Britain and the Chinese Empire. Britain won the war, and subsequently occupied Hong Kong in 1841. The Walled City was not affected, as it was located on the island nearby, and as a result of this loss, the Chinese Empire decided to reinforce the fort in Kowloon by building large walls around it, giving the area its lasting name, Kowloon Walled City.

At the heart of this fortress, they built a yamen, which is the main office from which this outpost is administered. The tensions between China and Britain continued on, ultimately leading to the Second Opium War in 1860. As a result, the Kowloon peninsula, too, fell into British hands, and the final boundary negotiation took place in 1898, resulting in a 1990 year lease of the new territories to Britain.

This is, in short, the story of how Hong Kong became a British colony, as it is commonly known. But what is often overlooked, is that the convention included one specific exception, the Kowloon Walled City, which is located inside the new territories, a Chinese enclave in the middle of British Hong Kong. As time moved on, both the Chinese and the British administrations showed a lack of interest in the Walled City, leaving it to its own fate.

The desolate barracks soon became makeshift homes for squatters seeking refuge. And recognizing the need for community structures, a Protestant church seized the opportunity to establish a senior home within the historic yamen. But the peaceful existence of this enclave was shattered in 1937 when war erupted between Japan and China.

The full scale invasion, initiated by Japan, emerged as the central conflict in the Pacific throughout World War II, and by 1942, Japan had taken control of vast swaths of Northern China, as well as holding various coastal exclaves, one of them being Hong Kong, which they utilized as a strategic military base. The Japanese expanded the local Kai Tak airport, and to do so, they needed building materials. Therefore, they tore down the walls of Kowloon Walled City, which was located right near the airport.

The end of the Second World War saw Hong Kong revert to British control. Simultaneously, the newly founded People's Republic of China, in 1949, reasserted it's right over the Kowloon Walled City. Practically, however, neither the Chinese, nor the British, took control of this area.

And with a massive wave of refugees in the wake of the Chinese Civil War, the need for cheap living space in Hong Kong was immense. And so, in the decades that followed, a maze of buildings grew ever higher and denser. Single houses became multi-story buildings, became 14 story skyscrapers.

(upbeat oriental music) The sunlit streets turned into shaded paths, until they were, eventually, completely blocked from sunlight. Within the confines of the Walled City, the laws of Hong Kong were not enforced. Any construction within the city proceeded without adhering to any building codes, with one singular exception.

Due to the city's close proximity to Kai Tak Airport, a strict height limit of 14 stories was enforced. Kowloon Walled City was located right along the path into the airport. Landings at Kai Tak were one of a kind, with pilots navigating through Hong Kong's mountainous terrain, flying remarkably close to the Walled City on final approach.

The highest priced apartments were those facing the outside, followed by those near the internal courtyard. These units offered the precious commodity of sunlight and fresh air. You could add a caged balcony to your apartment, cleverly expanding your living space, but most of the units were located inside in extremely unhealthy conditions.

This is a plan for a typical building inside the city. With no windows, people here were completely dependent on electric light. There also was no waste management in place, which led to catastrophic air quality.

Frequently, rubbish was simply disposed on one of the city's rooftops, or thrown into one of the shafts between buildings. The air is said to have been constantly stuffy, and polluted by the many factories that operated inside the city. As for clean water, a mere six official water stations served the entire city, which means residents often had to carry the water over long distances.

In terms of electricity, few actually paid for the service. Instead, most residents opted to illegally tap into external cables, routing them through the city's intricate maze of narrow passageways. These harsh living conditions attracted, not just those looking for a cheap place to live, the city's ambiguous legal status also attracted those who saw potential for unique business opportunities within its shattery confines.

The Walled City became a popular hub for dentists. Many of those had obtained their qualifications in mainland China, but found their licenses unrecognized in British governed Hong Kong. This rendered them unable to legally practice elsewhere in the city.

The absence of regulatory oversight also allowed various workshops, such as those specialing in metal fabrication, to flourish within the city. And kitchens were selling popular food items that were outlawed in the rest of Hong Kong, such as dog meat. Generally, food production was a common business inside the city, despite the completely unsanitary conditions.

It is even said that many of the delicacies processed here over the day, ended up on the plates of expensive restaurants across Hong Kong later in the night. While these kinds of businesses within the Walled City skirted the edge of legality, others plunged straight into the realms of serious criminal activity. Just because this city is free from the laws of Hong Kong, did not mean it was a space without order.

Power structures still exist with the triads notorious criminal gangs controlling the city. While businesses did not pay taxes, many of them were forced to pay protection money to these groups. And the triads themselves engaged in illegal businesses such as soliciting prostitution, opium dens, and in the later years, venturing into heroin trafficking.

The Hong Kong authorities found themselves in a difficult position, not wanting to let the growing addiction problem get out of hand. A permanent police presence inside the city would be an affront to China, which still claims the territory as its own. Therefore, in the mid 1970s, the authorities decided to carry out many isolated raids with police officers storming the city for short periods of time, arresting criminals, confiscating drugs, and then, leaving again.

In addition, various private aid organizations established themselves operating a kindergarten, as well as a Christian missionary youth center that offers help with addiction. The historic yamen, in the middle of the city, became a popular social spot, hosting public events for the city's residents. Even though the situation in the city improved in parts, it was, again, geopolitical reasons that ultimately ushered in the final chapter of the city.

Its legal status was a result of the 99-year lease of the surrounding new territories, and it is precisely that countdown that was coming to an end. In 1984, after years of negotiations, Great Britain and China agreed on a handover of all of Hong Kong back to China. This handover was scheduled to take place in 1997, but the breakthrough in negotiations also cleared up the dispute regarding Kowloon Walled City.

Despite massive resistance from the city's residents, the two governments jointly decided that the social situation, the risk of fire breaking out, as well as the fear of any of the buildings collapsing, would justify the complete evacuation and demolition of the city. With the start of the demolition in 1993, Kowloon Walled City came to an end. But as the city fades into memory, two diametrically opposed ideas of its existence emerge.

The dystopian image of the city inspired a large number of fictional depictions in film and art, often showcasing Kowloon Walled City as a futuristic hotbed of crime and corruption. As such, the city inspired tons of dystopian fantasies. However, what gets lost here is that this city was also a vibrant, tightly knit community.

As chaotic as the city may appear from the outside, there was actually a lot of order. And the notion of complete chaos is simply wrong. You could send a letter to someone living inside the city, and despite the apparent chaos, it would get delivered just fine.

People came here with nothing. They then raised children, established businesses, and then had to self-organize those aspects of city life that the lack of of government had left out. To many, Kowloon Walled City is a symbol of Hong Kong, showing that hardworking people were able to create community even despite harsh conditions.

Today, on the side of the Walled City there is a park where remains of the historical city can be found in several places, such as the historic yamen building still standing, as well as a small model remembering the urban monolith that once stood here. It's easy to vilify, and it's just as easy to romanticize a place like this. Ultimately, the answer might lie somewhere in the middle.

The story of Kowloon Walled City is one I've been meaning to tell for a long time, because it's a story that explores the intersections of architecture, history, and culture. Looking at changes of urban places throughout the decades, I think, can be incredibly insightful to understand the world we live in. One of my favorite videos I did that explores exactly these intersections, is my video about the construction of the original Twin Towers, in which I explain how these buildings completely changed how skyscrapers are built.

This video is part of my ongoing video series, Under Exposure, which also features videos about the raid on Bin Laden's compound in 2011, as well as a video about the Tenerife disaster, which was the worst aviation accident that ever occurred. These are videos that are not made for the YouTube algorithm, instead, this series is made for the big screen, a series where I fully, creatively tell stories just how I want to. And the reason all this is possible is because me, and a bunch of creators, have gotten together to build our very own streaming site, and it's called Nebula.

The idea is simple. Since Nebula is not an ad driven platform like YouTube, but a subscription model, we get to create higher budget productions. Some of my favorite shows across the board are on Nebula.

They're entertaining, but since we mostly are educational creators, there's also just so much to learn at the same time. And I am immensely proud of what my original series has become. So go to nebula.

tv/neo, and make sure you use that link so that you get 40% off on an annual plan. All my exclusive videos are up there, so thanks for the support, and thanks so much for watching this video.