The rise and fall of Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong’s infamous urban monolith

Existing as a Chinese enclave within British Hong Kong for roughly a century, in the 1980s Kowloon Walled City was considered the most densely populated place on Earth. Built 14 storeys high and with little to no space between buildings, an estimated 33,000 to 50,000 residents packed into its high-rises across just 6.5 acres. By 1994, this curious urban monolith had been demolished due to what was considered a low quality of life within its walls and plans for the region’s transfer back to China. This video essay traces the history of Kowloon Walled City from its origins as a small 17th-century military outpost to today, where it lives on in the popular imagination through films, video games and an ongoing fascination with this unlikely makeshift society. In doing so, the piece unravels a fascinating story of how geopolitical and economic forces led this unassuming stretch of land to become one of the most idiosyncratic settlements in human history.