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Self Build and Change: Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong
Author(s) -
Lambot Ian
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
architectural design
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.128
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 1554-2769
pISSN - 0003-8504
DOI - 10.1002/ad.2225
Subject(s) - dystopia , history , civil engineering , engineering , visual arts , media studies , sociology , art , political science , law
Despite its dystopian appearance, the now‐demolished Kowloon Walled City is fondly remembered by some former residents. Over the half century from 1946, it grew without input from architects or planners, from a squatter camp inside an abandoned military fort to the most densely populated place on earth. The 14‐storey amalgam of interlinking buildings housed over 35,000 people, along with factories, shops, schools and all other normal urban provisions. It has much to teach us about bottom‐up, community‐driven development – as former Hong Kong‐based architect Ian Lambot explains.