Kowloon Walled City

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[@carston101]

It's like an irl segment of the lower levels of Coruscant.

[@Mostie-ev7oh]

Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if George Lucas didn’t base Coruscant partially off of Kowloon

[@about29cats]

​@@Mostie-ev7oh Disney would use it try to justify sanctuary cities to their underage audience

[@irish0dragon0warrior]

Oh God, now I'm hearing all the voice clips from the Phantom Menace video game.

[@TuberMad]

My thoughts as well! (And many others', given the thumbs-up...) The time is nigh; soon, we will band together and force Disney to make media based on the original EU.

[@maninanikittycat4238]

I’ll never see the coruscant underworld the same again

[@phaikia13]

When the rats are addited to heroin, it's time to move out. Like, hell, anything is better than this.

[@alyssarichardson2544]

as fucked as it sounds, that sounds like paradise to me. I'm almost 7 years clean but PURELY for financial reasons - I refused to be a junkie and steal from my loved ones, when the source for my hustle dried up and I stopped EARNING money, I immediately got on methadone. If I had the money to get back on the white horse, I'd ride it all the way to Hollywood without thinking, let alone twice. That monkey will NEVER get off my back... A dingy 3rd world hellhole can easily be my idea of heaven if the heroin is cheap enough...

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

What’s worse is that everyone literally only had a square meter of living space. That is a city the size of an apartment complex, yet with as many people as Austin.

[@obiwancannoli1920]

I feel like some just wasn't able to get out.

[@aquasiox4033]

from another video i watched, there was a lot of good to the place too- culture, community, businesses for people with chinese licences not recognised by hong kong!

[@Ernie13579]

The normal way people think of Kowloon walled city,is that the situations are gross.That is true.But there is one thing that is rarely thought about .Empathy. 人情味.People have your back.It was a city of where people just wanted to survive,where they isolated themselves from the world.They helped each other,Now this is rarely seen in most places.Kind of like really nice neighbours. And hey,everyone knows that rent in HK ain’t cheap.

[@crimsonhalo13]

This was apparently the inspiration for the city in Judge Dredd.

[@d.o.g573]

No - both authors were not inspired by this

[@runswithraptors]

​@@d.o.g573thank God you were here to clear that up 🙏

[@Zakvadr1995]

Huh… so that’s how a Warhammer 40k Hive City would look….

[@AnarexicSumo]

Or at least 1 hab block yeah

[@Ddnmddnn]

Nah thats just a small block in hive city

[@RetroRadianceLight]

Hive cities wished they had as much living space as the people in Kowloon did

[@darrianweathington1923]

Real life 40k hive city

[@oliviasepelak3083]

Lmao i was thinking this!😅

[@JmKrokY]

🤔

[@user-SubvurzIV]

Would be interesting to know exactly when the British stopped trading in opium. I find it hard to believe that anyone would suddenly turn their back on a multibillion pound business, especially when its also maintaining politicial power over potentially hostile nations.

[@kingarthur1367]

We never stopped 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@denisowiczak3499]

​@@kingarthur1367 lol

[@thomasjames7568]

Why did you the UK deployed troops to Afghanistan from 2001-2014? To spread democracy? Everybody knows the US military was there but I never hear anybody talking about the other countries involved.

[@AnarexicSumo]

@@thomasjames7568 Because the US invoked Article 5…?

[@user-SubvurzIV]

@@thomasjames7568 I know.. it is a bit suspect that the Taliban burned all the poppy fields and they magically sprang back up and increased production and global distribution to unprecedented levels once the invasion happened. There's also the strange case of Tory MP Richard Drax who grows huge fields of opium on his 14,000 acre estate in Dorset that he processes into morphine and sells in an exclusive deal with the NHS.

[@mecha417]

Needs a full video, doesn't it?

[@achimhaun2726]

Already has one, on Biographics I think. This summary wasn't that great

[@No_Feelings]

This is some cyberpunk 2077 shit

[@YoungGandalf2325]

It looks like something out of a dystopian-future sci-fi movie.

[@scottmantooth8785]

*definite reflection of what every dystopian city of the future is depicted as especially in anime*

[@heat_death7]

like the city in BLAME!

[@katherineheasley6196]

It's been used as a model for some dystopian SF, I believe.

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

I mean that’s literally what the Corosant underworld looked, or 40K hive cities

[@cattosw5399]

Night City without the glamorous lights hiding the depravity.

[@flazzorb]

Apparently Kowloon was also known for really good noodles.

[@ToxicSocks24]

I wonder what their secret ingredient was 🤔

@@ToxicSocks24 Heroin addicted rat meat.

[@The105ODST]

​@@ToxicSocks24It was crime

[@sahilrahman5066]

and dentist's

[@wesleylayson9329]

The iron grates were there, but in the footage, the things shown are mostly to expand living space. They're known as caged balconies.

[@PB-tr5ze]

Some details you did not include. The city was controlled by China, but it was ignored and allowed to rot. The residents were refugees who fled China, but the Chinese government did not allow the British to accept the refugees per the deal that gave the british control over Hong Kong. China dumped "undesirables" into the city so they would be trapped in political limbo and would bring criminal to the city. The city was built nearly entirely by the residents using scrap and what ever construction materials they could find or scavenge. There were also dentist/doctor offices, shops, restaurants and schools built entirely by the residents. The Chinese demanded the walled city be torn down by the British before the city was returned to China, despite it having been under "Chinese control", although it was under the claim of security and health, most residents believed it was to purge the people they let languish in squalor and dump the expense on the British who had to compensate the residents.

[@goldsilvervscrisiscollapse4320]

Sure, that sounds very much like what a drug lord would say to justify pumping drugs into china. Had the British not forced opium into china none of this would be an issue

[@uberroo6609]

I remember the place, at least from watching the local news! Jurisdiction of the place was claimed by the Chinese government despite the fact that it was in British controlled Hong Kong. Neither side really governed The Walled City and the police were often afraid to venture into it unless in large groups - not because of the Chinese government, but because the ‘city’ was a place of lawlessness with triads (gangsters), vice, drugs and unregulated medical clinics. Hard to believe The Walled City was in Hong Kong, that was by the 1990s (at the time of its demolishment) generally an advanced and modern city in Asia. Those were the days…

[@_Its_Ya_Boy]

From what I heard, it wasn’t so bad, overall had a decent community, everyone had to pay small taxes to gangsters, which some went to clinics, and the gangsters acting as police, wasteland government in a way. The drugs were a pretty big problem though.

[@aarons6935]

Coruscant from star wars 100%

[@ithydoodles]

Sounds like Zozo in FF6 was based on this city.

[@jasv5214]

No one told the government workers the true hour, thats why it took them so long with getting anything done

[@BenXD-wj4rd]

Sounds like warhammer 40k

[@Megarexx]

Real life necromunda

[@xxthatoneguyxx2602]

Black ops one anyone?

[@enderknight39]

Nostramo Quintus anyone? Send in Konrad Curze

[@BaldyWanKenobi]

Holy shit. Where's Konrad Curze when you need him?

[@joshh535]

The US has “pizza rat” while China has “heroin rats”

[@Warmaka]

They shall fight for Rat supremacy!

[@goldsilvervscrisiscollapse4320]

Technically the only heroine rats there were the British who brought opium in to sell to them

[@TheFarCobra]

So … basically Vegas before Vegas existed.

[@jaketurner7321]

Sounds like living on coruscant

[@tatotaytoman5934]

fr

[@EdgyShooter]

I seem to recall that it got so bad the triads were essentially acting as the police force, due to the regular police refusing to enter. Not ideal, but having an organisation with some kind of honour code still kept it quite a bit safer than would have otherwise been the case

[@cartersamberlad17775]

So Kowloon was Nostromo

[@goosepuke]

WH40k irl

[@_Morph1ne_]

I played a CoD zombies map based on this place once… not really relevant, just thought I’d throw that out there.

[@hardcaselj111]

Imagine urban warfare in there

[@mikebar42]

Nope...

[@SammaS423]

The failed project would be an awesome setting for a movie tho

[@ncrtrooper7246]

Nostromo from WH40K IRL

[@olivers.7821]

Very interesting but also sad history of this place 😞

[@johnclaybaugh9536]

A lot of history is sad. But let's not ignore it.

[@txavielhumano6541]

A ssd place made by uk, like all the places that uk touch

[@mattparkin7224]

@@txavielhumano6541I'm sure Hong Kong will be much better under Chinese rule /s

[@imjustnothing6935]

Jack be like: i wanna go home but the worst part is im home💀

[@UncleJames95]

China builds fort. Britain: here have some opium China: Kowlooooooooon

[@WarmasterWirMustard]

The hive city

[@blackcloud415]

Even the rats were addicted to heroine? That's like... almost as bad as Chicago.

[@alphafreeze_7552]

That's actually the inspiration behind the game Stray

[@smalltalkgaming]

Builds a city to prove its power, only to have that city become a clusterfuck

[@unduloid]

Well, at least it formed the inspiration for _Black Lagoon._

[@Smachfest]

The beta version of Las Vegas.

[@aaronsmith4940]

Like a hive city from 40k

[@tannerking8299]

Dude you’re the best. I don’t know how you have time for all this

[@ernestsmith3581]

A similar "cultural war zone" area exists today in Northern Mexico along the border with the US. It's there for the same political reason, too - to prevent a mixing and merging of the cultures.

[@moxxiiscarlett7141]

Honestly, this place reminds me of Nar Shadaa. Becuase atleast Coruscant had a civilization on top. Nar Shadaa was essentially an entire lower level

[@just_jason]

The park is quite beautiful, and has some cool installations to memorialize its past

[@NightfallShadow]

That City is what the walled city in Deus Ex is based off and If I had a time machine I would want to go back and live in Kowloon for at least a few weeks just to soak up the once in a humanity experience. Never again will there ever be anything like kowloon and those who got to experience it in all its ramshakle glory were secretly blessed as of having the ability to witness living in a place that would never exist again, nor have immitators.

[@michaelfoye1135]

If the World Economic Forum gets their way, all of the 15 minute cities will be like Kowloon Walled City.

[@NightfallShadow]

@@michaelfoye1135 What is a 15 minute city? Also wtf you talking about lol.

[@evenmorecheese2785]

@@NightfallShadow According to Wikipedia: _The 15-minute city (FMC or 15mC) is an urban planning concept in which most daily necessities and services, such as work, shopping, education, healthcare, and leisure can be easily reached by a 15-minute walk or bike ride from any point in the city._ For some reason, some American conspiracy theorists have decided that attempting to create nicer cities must be a plot to destroy freedom. I'm honestly not sure whether it's a psyop on the part of some oil companies or whether conspiracy theorists have really become this insane.

[@killerflamingo9566]

@@evenmorecheese2785nah they are just insane

[@longbeardbobson4710]

​@@evenmorecheese2785The pandemic drove a lot of humanity a bit mad.

[@Warmaka]

Meanwhile the British sipping tea and watching from afar in prosperous Hong Kong: "Blimey that's a big pile of rubbish, innit?"

[@forexmountaindogg9600]

The British have lots of blood on their hands. As much as the other colonial countries.

[@electronium6378]

vaushs america

[@ravvij9643]

This sounds like the Mouse City experiment.

[@thomasslone1964]

When your own people are so s***** you just don't know how to deal with it

[@PB-tr5ze]

No, its what happens when an evil country (china) refuses to allow refugees to escape to democratic nations. The fort was where refugees from china were put because the contract the british had for Hong Kong forbade them from accepting refugees, but also did not allow the refugees to be returned to China. It was also china that demanded the fort be torn down before the return of Hong Kong could take place. So the Chinese Government forced people to live literally without a state in a literal scrap yard of a city the residents built, only for it to ordered it destroyed to punish the people they let suffer for decades.

[@davidwelch3887]

Send in Judge Dredd.

[@mr.hermitsquid2694]

Was going to say, just burn it down at that point

[@robertjosephgiarrusso5018]

Sounds like a I’d like to visit to bad it’s gone

[@johnpauljenkins7752]

San Francisco 😂

[@scottmantooth8785]

*this short came on at full volume...good video but the sound thing was a bit much*

[@unkown2500]

basically chaosrealm from mk

[@ZAR556]

British Empire, the first Drug Lord

[@WizzardJC]

I remember visiting British hongkong with my uncle in 94 and twice in 95, im glad they got their independence (that’s a joke with the Chinese) but I miss it in a way it wasn’t perfect but I felt safer even though things were already coming to an end, just my opinion I’m no authority on anything 👍

[@JH-mr2pn]

One could not see the Chinese border while in Kowloon, so what fort? Kowloon was still a part of the British territory...

[@JonsRegularStuff]

Meanwhile, the British areas had law and order, courts, justice, progress, security.... But let's not teach that...

[@khalilabushahin418]

You expect the drug dealer to be hogh on their own stuff?

[@JonsRegularStuff]

@@khalilabushahin418 ignoramus!

[@khalilabushahin418]

@@JonsRegularStuff I doubt that's an acual English word

[@JonsRegularStuff]

@@khalilabushahin418 thanks for proving my point. 😂🤣

[@khalilabushahin418]

@@JonsRegularStuff your point of acting your smart by using old English words? Oh yeah that is proven

[@reddiver7293]

Heroin was discovered in 1847.

[@andychrist2922]

Heroin is a brand name connect the dots.

[@azrail_winters]

Give it way to grim, it's a city with a somewhat unique culture. You just don't look at it from the viewpoint. You look at it as a distopian nightmare city. Which it half is but it half As bad you say it is give them more credit

[@kommandantgalileo]

Yeah, welcome to Hong Kong.

[@bsabradybunch550]

Sounds like a fun place, especially if you're a cat.

[@Xmasshow24]

Those rats setup the bats

[@BMH1965]

Too many myths and not enough facts.

[@edwardpaddock2528]

Sounds a lot like Detroit . . .

[@RokeJulianLockhart.s13ouq]

What a shame that it was dismantled.

[@WandenWaffler]

This city was used in one of the CSP stories. I don't remember what it was

[@pulepebane5679]

Yo the rats were addicted to what?!😮

[@greg61377]

Kumata Kumata. Idk if that's how it's spelled. Blood sport

[@rorschach7507]

what's happening to this channel? have they run out of subject matter for video's and are now forced into making only shorts??

[@RHCole]

KZbin has demonetized it so my guess is that they are trying to rehabilitate it by using sanitized shorts.

[@rorschach7507]

@@RHCole If that's true then Simon should keep us informed instead of letting us think the channel is dead.

[@tizianodellafazia2309]

its crazy that you dont get more views or like from your work its really really good!

[@StaticImage]

I think it's because people want the long form videos like they used to make. These shorts cannot compare with their long form videos at all.

[@SmokesKwazukii]

the Walled City is the coolest shit i’ve ever heard of. I’m sad it no longer exists because its just so unique and dystopian but that’s probably for the best. Theres very little footage of it but one interesting piece of photography is actually in a Van Damme movie, Bloodsport(?) i think. there was also an arcade in yokohama, japan that was built to look like you were walking down a street of kowloon walled city, but it closed unfortunately. I visited it before it closed and got my little taste of what this place wouldve looked like, they did a good job i think but it couldnt really capture the scale or squalor.

[@hawkman2735]

Modern day sodom and gomorrah

[@jmtradbr]

So... Where the people went?

[@lindasimons691]

And hundreds of families were displaced. How many received help from the government?

[@azraeltheundying]

Shenmue 2

[@Lazysquid27]

Would have LOVED to hangout there back in the day. My kind of good time. ❤🎉

[@skrrrtsusman3450]

wonder if they had to eat corpse starch as well

[@TrySomeFentanyl]

The first opium war is nothing compared to the current one happening in California.

[@ashleymckenna2808]

Kensington PA makes skidrow look like a nice place to have a vacation 🙁

[@duncancurtis5108]

Is Simon cutting the budget 😮?

[@hiimapenguin]

Stray?

[@Goldgazzelle]

Yeah cuz of the Brit’s

[@maybenot6075]

Now i know where the inspiration for modern day portland came from

[@nunyabidnes6010]

Cringe comment.

[@perryhtc]

Yes. it is "九龍城寨"

[@chanbricks4461]

​@@ikaiko8612 九龙 is Kowloon, and is the name of the walled city (城寨). The name of Kowloon comes from the village of the same name there, and the origin of that villages name remains uncertain, though some attribute it to fengshui, where there are nine so called "dragon's lifelines" that pass through that area

[@AdamOwenBrowning]

@@chanbricks4461 Thank you for this information!

[@micheleperkins1956]

Wait, what? Even the rats were addicted to heroin? Can we have a longer video on this, please?

[@AnarexicSumo]

there’s a long form documentary you can find free called Kowloon Walled City

[@micheleperkins1956]

@@AnarexicSumo Thank you! I'll look it up. But it'd be great if Simon did a video about it. 😀

[@ShaunKY.]

Would have loved to go there, heavily armed of course

[@seanglynn8971]

Sounds kinda fun for a weekend trip 🤣

[@pierluigiadreani2159]

Sounds like a cool Place.

[@commanderdenta]

bro gonna get zesty 💀

[@CountGremlin]

Makes me wonder what kinda influencers would come out of a city like that- Hell i bet Yes Theory would travel there if it still existed 😂

[@Eduardo.M.M.V.N.G]

If this comment gets 100 likes you will get Nothing

[@BH-gd4io]

Nice

[@Mohamedhassan-ox8kp]

well the Chinese are doing well right now.... right

[@user-cq3qf9dm7e]

very one dimensional and lame portrayal of the city

[@SmokesKwazukii]

ya it wasnt all crime. tons of people lived there and im sure it had its charm. i love the photographs i’ve seen, there’s something almost romantic about the place. However, the city definitely was full of squalor and suffering in equal measure to everything neat about it.

[@christianlewis7985]

Have you completely turned your website over to the CIA? I can't believe that I actually respected you at one point in my life. So sad

[@Lexyboogie]

Take your medication buddy.

[@johnclaybaugh9536]

Lol. Just let the whole world know you don't like facts.

[@SmokesKwazukii]

what are you even talking about lmao

[@StaticImage]

I'm struggling to figure out what you're talking about

[@pure-coordination]

Sounds like the den in fallout 2

[@waiwantheclock]

Doesnt sound that bad guy like me would have a hoot in there

[@who034]

Given the lack of concern for the people who lived there, I wonder why they felt a concern about falling debris and put up grates. 🤪🥸