The Densest Place on Earth
January 27, 2012
The Kowloon Walled City:
Originally built as a Chinese military fort, the Kowloon Walled City became a residential enclave after the New Territories were released to Britain in 1898. The population boom occurred after World War II, when the Japanese occupation drove prostitution, gambling, and drug use out of downtown Hong Kong and into Kowloon. In 1987, its population numbered 33,000 within its 6.5-acre borders.
Now it’s a park (map here):
Video here, before it was torn down.
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Here’s another way to think of it: Take almost all the population of the West End (38,000) in the red box – and squeeze everyone into the two blocks inside the yellow box.
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So, um, where is the densest place now?
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I’ve been dazzled by the walled city ever since I first heard about it, its a pity it was torn down. I don’t want to romanticize the living conditions, however these unique high density spots are few and far between. With a little of work and polish they could of become huge tourist draws. It’s a BladeRunner wet dream. With the money received it could of lifted the entire community. And make no mistake, they are amazing communities with amazing personal interactions. Every where you visit now its basically the same, its things like Kowloon that make a city unique.
This probably isn’t the densest in the world, but with 4000 people reported to be living in it. Chungking Mansions is an interesting place to look at.
I am glad you posted that. I can’t say how many times I have heard the urban myth perpetuated that the West End of Vancouver is the densest place in Canada, or even the densest place in North America. I am sure that it is not. It is likely the densest place in the Vancouver region, but even that I am not so sure about. I would like to know the thoughts of others on this.