Hundreds of years ago, a small imperial outpost was established by the Chinese military in what is now Hong Kong. Initially consisting of a mere three buildings, the fort had a central structure where an official would have lived, called a yamen. It was fortified by the military and was given the nickname Kowloon Walled City.

But what began as a small military outpost would, over the course of the next few centuries, develop into what is considered to have been the densest city ever made by humans. To truly understand how it evolved into this state, however, some historical context is needed.

Throughout the nineteenth century, the United Kingdom established and grew a territory on the Indian subcontinent, known as the British East India Company, and eventually the British Raj. India soon became a crucial area for trade across Asia. As for China, they thrived after the establishment of the Qing dynasty (1644), but they soon became dependent on European-traded silver, but as silver circulation decreased, it became a rare commodity in Europe, and nations had finite supplies for it.

Opium, however, had undergone mass production in India, and as trade for the drug increased dramatically across Asia, British merchants soon realized they could illegally substitute imports of rare silver for opium by smuggling it into Chinese ports. China soon found out about this and eventually prohibited the trade of opium to their country entirely.

Tensions began to rise dramatically between China and Britain, which culminated in the beginning of the First Opium War. Britain was victorious, resulting in the cession of Hong Kong island to them in 1842. After the Second Opium War, it was further expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 at the Convention of Peking, and soon enough Britain obtained a 99-year lease of the “New Territories”, which made up the majority of Hong Kong. This 1898 deal had one exclusion, however: a small territory in the middle of Kowloon no bigger than five football fields.

The city as a military fort, pictured in 1898 (Wikipedia)

This was the small military outpost mentioned previously, largely abandoned. After the establishment of the Republic of China, the former and Britain argued over ownership of the territory until Hong Kong was captured by the Empire of Japan during World War II, along with large swaths of mainland China.

By the time Japan withdrew from Hong Kong in 1945, the territory was populated by hundreds of squatters, who, with nowhere to build outwards, had begun to build upwards. China had reclaimed Kowloon Walled City after the war and had largely not enforced law there, so the territory was left to its own regulation. As the population turned from hundreds to thousands, the city grew dramatically over the course of the next decades.

The buildings that packed the miniscule area and lined the border of the city soon reached a height of fourteen stories, where construction would stop. This is because the nearby Kai-Tak Airport’s runway was situated in such a position that planes would fly directly over it on their final approach, so the buildings could not be taller, or they would obstruct the plane’s flight path.

Kowloon Walled City before its demolition, 1989 (Wikipedia)

To provide a realistic example of the density of a city such as this one, it can be compared to the neighborhood of Yorkville in Manhattan, which can currently be measured at around 169 thousand people per square kilometer. Kowloon Walled City, at its peak in the 1980s, was almost thirty times denser than Yorkville, and had 3.25 million people per square mile, with an estimated 33 thousand people living in the territory no bigger than 6.4 acres, around the size of five football fields.

To summarize, a substantial number of people lived in an incredibly small area. But what was it like to live in such a packed place? As one can imagine, it wasn’t very nice.

The city was built in such a way that the most expensive flats were on the outer walls and in the inner courtyard, where stood still the historic yamen, which had been converted into a Christian missionary school that helped inhabitants of the city with opium addiction. The exterior and interior walls were the most desired apartments because they had access to sunlight and fresh air, which most of the city did not have. Inhabitants could buy a gated deck, expanding their living space. Other than the rooftops, this was the only way to have access to such treasured things.

Speaking of rooftops, these areas were the only places other than the narrow shafts between buildings where people could deposit their trash, since it couldn’t go over the walls. As for access to commodities such as water or electricity, it was limited, and not many actually paid for it, tapping into illegal sources instead, or getting them from other, unsanitary sources.

A good thing to spend your money on if you lived in the Walled City would be protection from gangs, who would force people to pay them protection money and would also sell illicit substances. British forces would eventually enter the city and crack down on these dealers, but they would always have prominence in the city.

There were also business opportunities, such as medicine. Some doctors, especially those from mainland China, did not have a proper place to practice or could not afford to do so, and working in the city was cheaper or safer than on the mainland. Cuisine also provided opportunities; the city’s inhabitants developed their own, which, throughout the course of an average day in Kowloon Walled City, was imported to expensive restaurants in China and Hong Kong alike, en masse.

By the 1980s, the city had reached an economic boom, but Britain’s 99-year lease of Hong Kong was expiring. Throughout the next decade, plans were made for the city’s demolition, citing unsanitary conditions and crime. Remaining citizens were evacuated, and its demolition was completed by 1995. The historic yamen still stands, and a park was constructed to commemorate the city and remember how iconic it was.

The city as pictured in Call of Duty: Black Ops (IGN)

In popular culture, it inspired the likes of Batman Begins and Call of Duty: Black Ops, each with a dystopian atmosphere. However, in a way, Kowloon Walled City has been somewhat romanticized through nostalgia and history. Throughout its ancient history, the city delivered a sense of dystopia because of its claustrophobia and lawlessness, but glamor because of the sense of freedom and resilience that echoed within its walls.