Kowloon Walled City

File:Kowloon-Walled-City-1898.jpg and Lung Tsun Pavilion (Pavilion for Greeting Officials) of Kowloon Walled City in 1898|alt=The front entrance of a fort with mountains in the background.]]

The history of the walled city can be traced back to the Song dynasty (960–1279), when a military outpost was set up to manage the salt trade in the area. Little took place for hundreds of years afterward, although 30 guards were stationed there in 1668. A small coastal fort was established around 1810 after Chinese forces abandoned Tung Lung Fort. In 1842, during Qing Daoguang Emperor's reign, Hong Kong Island was ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Nanking. As a result, the Qing authorities felt it necessary to improve the fort to rule the area and check further British influence. The improvements, including the formidable defensive wall, were completed in 1847. The walled city was captured by rebels during the Taiping Rebellion in 1854, before being retaken a few weeks later.{{cite web|last=Lam|first=Li Long|author-link=Li Long Lam|url=http://www.nssd.org/articles/article_detail.aspx?id=24822524|title=Excavation Report of Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827170702/http://www.nssd.org/articles/article_detail.aspx?id=24822524 |archive-date=27 August 2017|volume=6|year=2007}}

File:Victoria City and Kowloon 1915.jpg

The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory of 1898 handed additional parts of Hong Kong (the New Territories) to Britain for 99 years, but excluded the walled city, which at the time had a population of roughly 700. China was allowed to continue to keep officials there as long as they did not interfere with the defence of British Hong Kong. The following year, the governor, Sir Henry Blake, suspected that the viceroy of Canton was using troops to aid resistance to the new arrangements. On 14 April 1899, British forces attacked the walled city, only to find the viceroy's soldiers gone, leaving behind only the mandarin and 150 residents. The Qing dynasty ended its rule in 1912, leaving the walled city to the British.{{cite web | last=Watson | first=Penny | title=Walled City, Hong Kong: The incredible story of the lawless enclave inside Hong Kong | website=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=14 August 2018 | url=https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/walled-city-hong-kong-the-incredible-story-of-the-lawless-enclave-inside-hong-kong-20180628-h11yu7.html | access-date=14 August 2024}}

Though the British claimed ownership of the walled city, they did little with it over the following few decades. The Holy Trinity Church established an old people's home in the old yamen as well as a school and an almshouse in other former offices. Aside from such institutions, however, the walled city became a mere curiosity for British colonials and tourists to visit; it was labelled as "Chinese Town" in a 1915 map. In 1933, the Hong Kong authorities announced plans to demolish most of the decaying walled city's buildings, compensating the 436 squatters that lived there with new homes. That same year, the Nationalist Chinese government protested, claiming jurisdiction over the city.{{Cite journal |last=Miners |first=N. J. |date=1982 |title=A Tale of Two Walled Cities: Kowloon and Weihaiwei |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/honkon12&div=27&id=&page= |journal=Hong Kong Law Journal |volume=12 |pages=179}}{{Cite web |title=The National Archives – Historic Hong Kong documents {{!}} Gwulo: Old Hong Kong |url=https://gwulo.com/node/56213 |access-date=11 October 2021 |website=gwulo.com}} The Nationalist Chinese government continued to make claims on its jurisdiction throughout 1935, 1936, and the first half of 1937, until the war between China and Japan started.{{cite book|title=Britain and China 1945–1950: Documents on British Policy Overseas|volume=8|first1=S.R.|last1=Ashton|first2=G.|last2=Bennett|first3=K|last3=Hamilton|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|pages=127–129|isbn=9781135279585}}

By 1940, only the yamen, the school, and one house remained. During the World War II occupation of Hong Kong, the Japanese occupying forces demolished the city's wall and used the stone to expand the nearby Kai Tak Airport.

File:KWC - 1972 Sing Tao.jpg

After Japan's surrender in 1945, China announced its intent to reclaim the walled city. In November 1946, Nationalist Chinese officials created the "Draft Outline Plan for Reinstatement of Administration" of the area, which included an office, schools, police, and other functions.{{Cite journal |title=The History of Planning for Kowloon City |url=https://hub.hku.hk/bitstream/10722/245207/1/content.pdf?accept=1 |journal=Planning Perspectives| bibcode=2018PlPer..33...97L | last1=Lai | first1=Lawrence W. C. | last2=Chua | first2=Mark Hansley | date=2018 | volume=33 | issue=1 | page=97 | doi=10.1080/02665433.2017.1331751 }} Refugees fleeing the Chinese Civil War post-1945 poured into Hong Kong, and 2,000 squatters occupied the walled city by 1947. After an attempt to drive them out in 1948, the British adopted a "hands-off" policy in most matters concerning the walled city. On 8 January 1948, the Nationalist Chinese government sent a memorandum to the British Ambassador, stating "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs now formally declare to the British Embassy that, in accordance with the provisions of the said Convention, the Chinese Government enjoys jurisdiction over the City of Kowloon and that they have no intention whatsoever of renouncing this jurisdiction." The British Foreign Office, on 4 February 1948, considered a variety of solutions (including turning the site into a Nationalist Chinese Consulate-General), and ultimately recommended that the British "accept the principle of Chinese jurisdiction over Kowloon Walled City but the Chinese agree not to attempt to exercise that jurisdiction in practice." Additionally, the British Foreign Office said that "A public garden controlled by the municipal authorities of Kowloon Leased territory offers such a solution and so would a Chinese consular compound, if the Chinese could first be induced to agree in principle to the appointment of a Consul General."

File:KWC - 1975.jpg

In January 1950, a fire broke out that destroyed over 2,500 huts, home to nearly 3,500 families and 17,000 total people. The disaster highlighted the need for proper fire prevention in the largely wooden-built squatter areas, complicated by the lack of political ties with the colonial and Chinese governments. The ruins gave new arrivals to the walled city the opportunity to build anew, causing speculation that the fire may have been intentionally set.

With no government enforcement from the Chinese or the British aside from a few raids by the Hong Kong Police, the walled city became a haven for crime and drugs. It was only during a 1959 trial for a murder that occurred within the walled city that the Hong Kong government was ruled to have jurisdiction there. By that time, however, the walled city was virtually ruled by the organised crime syndicates known as triads.

Beginning in the 1950s, triad groups such as the 14K and Sun Yee On gained a stranglehold on the walled city's numerous brothels, gambling parlours, and opium dens. The walled city had become such a haven for criminals that police would venture into it only in large groups.{{cite news |last=Carney |first=John |title=Kowloon Walled City: Life in the City of Darkness |url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1191748/kowloon-walled-city-life-city-darkness |access-date=29 January 2014 |newspaper=South China Morning Post |date=16 March 2013}} It was not until 1973 and 1974, when a series of more than 3,500 police raids resulted in over 2,500 arrests and over {{convert|1800|kg}} of drugs seized, that the triads' power began to wane. With public support, particularly from younger residents, the continued raids gradually eroded drug use and violent crime. In 1983, the district police commander declared the walled city's crime rate to be under control.

File:Kowloon Walled City - 1991.jpg

The city also underwent massive construction during the 1960s, with developers building new modular structures above older ones. The city became extremely densely populated and "a world unto its own", an enclave,{{Cite journal |last=Harter |first=Seth |date=November 2000 |title=Hong Kong's Dirty Little Secret |journal=Journal of Urban History |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=92–113 |doi=10.1177/009614420002700106 |s2cid=145574313 |issn=0096-1442}} with over 33,000 people in 300 buildings occupying little more than {{convert|7|acre}}. As a result, the city reached its maximum size by the late 1970s and early 1980s; a height restriction of 13 to 14 stories had been imposed on the city due to the flight path of planes heading toward Kai Tak Airport. As well as limiting building height, the proximity of the airport subjected residents to serious noise pollution. Eight municipal pipes provided water to the entire structure, although more could have come from wells. A few of the streets were illuminated by fluorescent lights, as sunlight rarely reached the lower levels due to the outstanding disregard to air rights within the city. Although the rampant crime of earlier decades diminished in later years, the walled city was still known for its high number of unlicensed doctors and dentists who could operate there without threat of prosecution.{{Citation |last=Wall Street Journal |title=City of Imagination: Kowloon Walled City 20 Years Later |date=2 April 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj_8ucS3lMY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/dj_8ucS3lMY |archive-date=17 November 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=8 March 2019}}{{cbignore}}

Although the walled city was for many years a hotbed of criminal activity, most residents were not involved in any crime and lived peacefully within its walls. Numerous small factories and businesses thrived inside the walled city, and some residents formed groups to organise and improve daily life there. An attempt by the government in 1963 to demolish some shacks in a corner of the city gave rise to an "anti-demolition committee" that served as the basis for a kaifong association. Charities, religious societies, and other welfare groups were gradually introduced to the city. While medical clinics and schools went unregulated, the Hong Kong government provided some services such as water supply and mail delivery.

File:KWC - Alley.jpg

The quality of life in the city—sanitary conditions in particular—remained far behind the rest of Hong Kong. The Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984 laid the groundwork for the city's demolition. The mutual decision by the two governments to tear down the walled city was announced on 14 January 1987. On 10 March 1987, following the announcement that the walled city would be converted to a park, the Secretary for District Administration formally requested the Urban Council to take over the site following demolition. Owing to the presence of numerous other green spaces in the area, the Urban Services Department doubted the need for "yet another park" from a planning and operations point of view, but the council agreed nonetheless to accept the government's proposal on the condition that the government bear the cost of park construction.{{cite news |title=Memorandum for Members of the Recreation Select Committee, Capital Works Select Committee, Finance Select Committee, and the Standing Committee of the Whole Council: Proposed Park at the site of Kowloon Walled City 10 April 1987 |publisher=Urban Council}}{{cite news |title=Memorandum for Members of the Recreation Select Committee: Proposed Park Development at The Kowloon Walled City Site 7 September 1990 |publisher=Urban Council}}

The government distributed some {{HKD|2.7 billion}} ({{USD|350 million}}) in compensation to the estimated 33,000 residents and businesses in a plan devised by a special committee of the Hong Kong Housing Authority. Some residents were not satisfied with the compensation and were forcibly evicted between November 1991 and July 1992. While it was deserted, the empty city was used to film a scene in the 1993 movie Crime Story.

After four months of planning, demolition of the walled city began on 23 March 1993 and concluded in April 1994. Construction work on Kowloon Walled City Park started the following month. Some historic structures within the former have been preserved and integrated into the new park.{{Cite web |title=Antiquities and Monuments Office - Declared Monuments in Hong Kong - Kowloon (172) |url=https://www.amo.gov.hk/en/historic-buildings/monuments/kowloon/monuments_63/index.html |access-date=2024-05-15 |website=www.amo.gov.hk}}

File:Kowloon Walled City Statue.jpg

File:Streets in Kowloon Walled City.jpg

The walled city was located in an area of Kowloon that became known as Kowloon City. In spite of its transformation from a fort into an urban enclave, the walled city retained the same basic layout. The original fort was built on a slope and consisted of a {{convert|2.6|ha|acre|adj=on}} plot measuring about {{convert|210|by|120|m|ft}}. The stone wall surrounding it had four entrances and measured {{convert|4|m|ft}} tall and {{convert|4.6|m|ft}} thick before it was dismantled in 1943.

File:Kowloon Walled City.jpg

Construction surged dramatically during the 1960s and 1970s, until the formerly low-rise city consisted almost entirely of buildings with 10 storeys or more (with the notable exception of the yamen in its centre). However, due to Kai Tak Airport's position {{convert|800|m|mi}} south of the city, buildings did not exceed 14 storeys. The two-storey Sai Tau Tsuen settlement bordered the walled city to the south and west until it was cleared in 1985 and replaced with Carpenter Road Park.

The city's dozens of alleyways were often only {{convert|1|–|2|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide, and had poor lighting and drainage. An informal network of staircases and passageways also formed on upper levels, which was so extensive that one could travel north to south through the entire city without ever touching solid ground. Construction in the city went unregulated, and most of the roughly 350 buildings were built with poor foundations and few or no utilities. Because apartments were so small—a typical unit was {{convert|23|m2|ft2|abbr=on}}—space was maximised with wider upper floors, caged balconies and rooftop additions. Roofs in the city were full of television antennas, clothes lines, water tanks, and rubbish, and could be crossed using a series of ladders.

File:KWC - Night.jpg

Kowloon Walled City's early population fluctuated between zero and a few hundred, and began growing steadily shortly after World War II. However, there is no accurate population information available for much of the walled city's later existence. Official census numbers estimated the walled city's population at 10,004 in 1971 and 14,617 in 1981. Informal estimates, on the other hand, often mistakenly included the neighbouring squatter village of Sai Tau Tsuen. Population figures of about 50,000 were also reported.{{cite web |last=Nosowitz |first=Dan |date=18 April 2013 |title=Life Inside The Most Densely Populated Place on Earth [Infographic] |url=http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-04/life-inside-most-densely-populated-place-earth-infographic#page-2 |access-date=13 April 2018 |website=Popular Science |quote=1990 50,000 inhabitants}}

A thorough government survey in 1987 gave a clearer picture: an estimated 33,000 people resided within the walled city. Based on this survey, the walled city had a population density of approximately {{convert|1255000|PD/sqkm|PD/sqmi}} in 1987, making it the most densely populated spot in the world.{{Cite web |last=Chan |first=Wilfred |date=2 January 2015 |title=Kowloon Walled City: In Hong Kong, it was the densest place on Earth |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/kowloon-walled-city/index.html |access-date=13 May 2021 |website=CNN |language=en}} Names in Kowloon Walled City were mostly Cantonese.

File:Kowloon Walled City 1991.jpg

File:KWC - Playground.jpg

In response to difficult living conditions, residents formed a tightly knit community, helping one another endure various hardships. Within families, wives often did housekeeping, while grandmothers cared for their grandchildren and other children from surrounding households. The city's rooftops were important gathering places, especially for residents who lived on upper floors. Parents used them to relax, and children would play or do homework there after school.

The yamen in the heart of the city was also a major social centre, a place for residents to talk, have tea or watch television, and to take classes such as calligraphy. The Old People's Centre also held religious meetings for Christians and others. Other religious institutions included the Fuk Tak and Tin Hau temples, which were used for a combination of Buddhist, Taoist, and animist practices.

{{for|details on the park itself|Kowloon Walled City Park}}

File:Kowloon Walled City Park Overview 201807.jpg

The area where the walled city once stood is now Kowloon Walled City Park, adjacent to Carpenter Road Park. The {{convert|31000|m2|ft2 acre|abbr=on}} park was completed in August 1995 and handed over to the Urban Council. It was opened officially by Governor Chris Patten a few months later on 22 December.{{cite news |last=Flint |first=John |title=Walled City's transformation sparks hopes for other sites |url=http://www.scmp.com/article/143914/walled-citys-transformation-sparks-hopes-other-sites |access-date=28 January 2014 |newspaper=South China Morning Post |date=23 December 1995}} Construction of the park cost a total of {{HKD|76 million}}.

The park's design is modelled on Jiangnan gardens of the early Qing dynasty. It is divided into eight landscape features, with the fully restored yamen as its centrepiece. The park's paths and pavilions are named after streets and buildings in the walled city. Artefacts from the walled city, such as five inscribed stones and three old wells, are also on display in the park. The park was designed by the Architectural Services Department, which won a "prestigious award" from the Central Society of Horticulture of Germany for the redevelopment.{{cite news|last1=Ng|first1=Kang-Chung|title=Walled City park project wins top award|work=South China Morning Post|date=12 January 1994}}

File:Image-Kowloon Walled City southgate.jpg

Components of the park include:

• The Eight Floral Walks, each named after a different plant or flower
• The Chess Garden, featuring four {{convert|3|by|5|m|ft|adj=on}} Chinese chessboards
• The Garden of Chinese zodiac, containing stone statues of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals
• The Garden of Four Seasons (named Guangyin Square after the small open area in the walled city), a {{convert|300|m2|sqft|abbr=on}} garden with plants that symbolise the four seasons
• The Six Arts Terrace, a {{convert|600|m2|sqft|abbr=on}} wedding area containing a garden and the Bamboo Pavilion
• The Kuixing Pavilion, including a moon gate framed by two stone tablets and the towering Guibi Rock, which represents Hong Kong's return to China
• The Mountain View Pavilion, a two-storey structure resembling a docked boat that provides a good view of the entire park
• The Lung Tsun, Yuk Tong, and Lung Nam Pavilions
• The yamen and the remains of the South Gate (see below).

File:KWC Yamen1.JPG building with one of the original cannons|alt=The front entrance of a building labelled "Almshouse" with a cannon in front of it.]]

File:Kowloon Walled City2.jpg

The Antiquities and Monuments Office conducted archaeological examinations as the walled city was being demolished, and several cultural remains were discovered. Among them were the walled city's yamen and remnants of its South Gate, which were officially designated declared monuments of Hong Kong on 4 October 1996.

The South Gate had originally served as the walled city's main entrance. Along with its foundation, other remains included two stone plaques inscribed with "South Gate" and "Kowloon Walled City" from the South Gate and a flagstone path that had led up to it. The foundations of the city's wall and East Gate were also discovered. The Hong Kong government preserved the South Gate remnants next to a square in front of the yamen.

The yamen building is made up of three halls. Originally the middle hall served the Assistant Magistrate of Kowloon's administrative office, and the rear block was his residence. After the government officials left the area in 1899, it was used for several other purposes, including an old people's home, a refuge for widows and orphans, a school, and a clinic. It was restored in 1996 and is now found near the centre of the park. It contains a photo gallery of the walled city, and two cannons dating back to 1802 sit at the sides of its entrance.

== Cultural memory ==

A lack of governance, and separation from Hong Kong, provided a distinct culture in the city.{{Cite journal|last=Lee|first=Jung Joon|date=2016|title=Kowloon Walled City Revisited: Photography and Postcoloniality in the City of Darkness|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/t/tap/7977573.0006.202?view=text;rgn=main#N9|journal=Trans Asia Photography|volume=6|issue=2 |pages=1|doi=10.1215/215820251_6-2-202 |s2cid=192928727 |doi-access=free}} Crime and corruption were common; the police were known to co-operate with the triads operating in the city.{{Cite journal|last=Ho|first=Lawrence|date=2012|title=Un-Forgetting walls by lines on maps: A case study on property rights, cadastral mapping, and the landscape of the Kowloon Walled City.|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264837716301417|journal=Land Use Policy|volume=57|pages=94–102|doi=10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.05.022|hdl=10722/227423|hdl-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last=Fraser|first=Alistair|date=2017|title=The second life of Kowloon Walled City: Crime, Media and cultural memory|journal=Crime, Media, Culture|volume=12|issue=2|pages=217–234|doi=10.1177/1741659017703681|pmc=5732597|pmid=29278247}} During the 1970s greater police presence reduced crime and the city became home to those seeking to avoid business regulation and taxes.

While the city was shunned in its early existence, it has since become a source of pride for many Hong Kong residents. The rising publicity around Hong Kong following the 1997 handover sparked a re-emergence in the public interest of Kowloon Walled City and its disappearance. Popular memory tends to sanitise the city, forgetting the crime and corruption.{{Cite book|last=Ackbar|first=Abbas|title=Hong Kong: Culture and the Politics of Disappearance|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|year=1997|isbn=978-0-8166-8798-5|pages=1–15}} The city has begun to be portrayed with a romantic dystopian identity, and many forms of modern media have borrowed the city's culture in their works. It serves as an inspiration for fictional hive-like cities as seen in various forms of media.{{cite journal |author=Ross Farnell |year=1998 |title=Posthuman Topologies: William Gibson's 'Architexture' in 'Virtual Light' and 'Idoru.' |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4240725 |journal=Science Fiction Studies |volume=5 |issue=3|jstor=4240725 }} pages 459–80

A few of the people who spent time in Kowloon Walled City have written accounts of their experiences. Evangelist Jackie Pullinger wrote a 1989 memoir, Crack in the Wall, about her involvement in treating drug addicts within the walled city. In his 2004 autobiography Gweilo, Martin Booth describes his exploration of the walled city as a child in the 1950s. Gordon Jones, a District Officer of Kowloon City District at the time, also published his recollections of the city during his time in office.{{cite journal |last=Jones |first=Gordon |year=2011 |title=The Kowloon City District and the Clearance of the Kowloon Walled City: Personal Recollections |url=https://hkjo.lib.hku.hk/archive/files/105586149894abb03ac1ce909d27ae55.pdf |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch |volume=51 |pages=257–278 |issn=1991-7295 |jstor=23891943}}

Robert Ludlum's novel The Bourne Supremacy uses the walled city as one of its settings. {{anchor|gibson}}The city appears as a virtual reality environment (described by Steven Poole as an "oasis of political and creative freedom") in William Gibson's Bridge trilogy, and as a favourable contrast with Singapore in his Wired article "Disneyland with the Death Penalty".

Chloe Gong's 2023 adult fantasy novel Immortal Longings draws inspiration from the walled city for its setting.{{cite journal |last=Hedlund |first=Dani |year=2023 |title=An Interview With Chloe Gong |url=https://frictionlit.org/an-interview-with-chloe-gong/#:~:text=It%20was%20that%20feeling%20that,story%20to%20do%20with%20that|journal=F(r)iction}}

The 1982 Shaw Brothers film Brothers from the Walled City is set in Kowloon Walled City.{{cite web |title=Review of Brothers from the Walled City |url=http://www.sogoodreviews.com/reviews/brothersfromthewalledcity.htm |access-date=11 March 2014 |publisher=Sogoodreviews.com}}

The 1984 gangster film Long Arm of the Law features the walled city as a refuge for gang members before they are gunned down by police.

In the 1988 film Bloodsport, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, the walled city is the setting for a martial arts tournament.

The 1992 non-narrative film Baraka features several highly detailed shots of the walled city shortly before its demolition.

The 1993 film Crime Story starring Jackie Chan was partly filmed in the deserted walled city, and includes real scenes of building explosions.

A walled neighbourhood called the Narrows in the 2005 film Batman Begins was inspired by the walled city.

The 2006 Hong Kong horror film Re-cycle features a decrepit, nightmarish version of the walled city, complete with tortured souls from which the protagonist must flee.

The 2016 TVB martial arts drama A Fist Within Four Walls takes place in the triad-ridden walled city in the early 1960s.{{Cite journal |date=7 September 2015 |title=TVB 周刊 #950 新劇解構 |trans-title=TVB Weekly, #950; New drama explained |journal=TVB Weekly |language=zh |publisher=TVB}}

The 2024 Hong Kong action crime film Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, an adaptation of the manhua City of Darkness by Andy Seto, sets its location and plot premise in Kowloon Walled City during the 1980s.{{Cite web |title=Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In |url=https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/twilight-of-the-warriors-walled-in/ |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Festival de Cannes |language=en-US}}

In The Legend of Korra, Kowloon served as the aesthetic basis for representing the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se.The Legend of Korra—The Art of the Animated Series, Book Three: Change, page 48.{{fcn|date=November 2024}}DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan & Heck, Colin (December 2, 2014). "The Ultimatum" commentary. Book Three: Change Blu-ray.{{better|date=November 2024}}

In the manga Crying Freeman, the titular character's wife travels to the walled city to master her swordsmanship and control a cursed sword. The manga Blood+: Kowloon Nights uses the walled city as the setting for a series of murders. The later part of episode 3 and episode 4 of the anime Street Fighter II V are set in Kowloon Walled City, depicted as a dark and lawless area where Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li have to fight for their lives at every turn, being rescued by the police once they reach the walled city's limits. The manga Kowloon Generic Romance is also set in the walled city.

Kowloon Walled City is depicted in several games, including Kowloon's Gate and Shenmue II. The game Stranglehold, a sequel to the film Hard Boiled, features a version of the walled city filled with hundreds of Triad members. In the games Fear Effect and Fear Effect 2, photographs of the walled city were used as inspiration "for moods, camera angles and lighting". Concept art for the MMORPG Guild Wars Factions depicts massive, densely packed structures inspired by the walled city. The pen-and-paper RPG Shadowrun and CRPG Shadowrun: Hong Kong include a crime-ridden, rebuilt version of the Walled City set in 2056. The walled city also features in the 2010 game Call of Duty: Black Ops.{{Cite web|url=https://untappedcities.com/2011/10/02/kill-screen-kowloon-city-behind-these-walls/|title=The Lost Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong as Represented in Video Games|last=Young|first=Michelle|date=10 February 2011|website=Untapped Cities|access-date=18 August 2019}} The 2022 video game Stray's environment is influenced by the walled city as well.{{Cite web|title='Stray' is a futuristic cat simulator for PS4 and PS5|url=https://www.engadget.com/stray-ps4-ps5-teaser-151741892.html|access-date=30 July 2021|website=Engadget|date=12 June 2020 |language=en-US}}

File:Cyber Kowloon Walled City - 01. 2nd floor - Warehouse Kawasaki, 2014-06-02 (by Ken OHYAMA).jpg, a former Japanese game arcade with a Kowloon Walled City theme]]

A partial recreation of Kowloon Walled City existed in the Warehouse Kawasaki, an amusement arcade that operated from 2009 to 2019 in the Japanese suburb of Kawasaki, Kanagawa. The atmosphere of the walled city was reflected in the arcade's narrow corridors, electrical wires, pipes, postboxes, sign boards, neon lights, frayed posters, and various other small touches.{{cite news |first=Julian |last=Ryall |url=http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1321559/arcade-brings-kowloon-walled-city-back-dead-japan |title=Arcade brings Kowloon Walled City back from the dead... in Japan|work=South China Morning Post|date=1 October 2013 |access-date=27 April 2014}}

A livehouse inspired by the Walled City opened its doors in Shibuya, Tokyo in December 2021. Known as the Shibuya Kinmirai Kaikan ({{lang|ja|渋谷近未来会館}}), the venue hired Hong Kong artists to spray paint Cantonese graffiti on its walls to give an air of authenticity along with neon lights and posters.{{Cite web |last=Japan Walker@HK編輯Ada |date=2022-03-24 |title=【東京秘景】澀谷驚現九龍城寨港式廢墟 內有大量廣東話禁語！真身其實是… |url=https://hk.news.yahoo.com/%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC%E7%A7%98%E6%99%AF-%E6%BE%80%E8%B0%B7%E9%A9%9A%E7%8F%BE%E4%B9%9D%E9%BE%8D%E5%9F%8E%E5%AF%A8%E6%B8%AF%E5%BC%8F%E5%BB%A2%E5%A2%9F-%E5%85%A7%E6%9C%89%E5%A4%A7%E9%87%8F%E5%BB%A3%E6%9D%B1%E8%A9%B1%E7%A6%81%E8%AA%9E-%E7%9C%9F%E8%BA%AB%E5%85%B6%E5%AF%A6%E6%98%AF-113000391.html |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=Yahoo News |language=zh-Hant-HK}}

The Chinese catering brand Wenheyou runs multi-storey retro-themed restaurant buildings in Changsha,{{Cite web |last=九行 |date=2021-05-18 |title=走出长沙的文和友，只剩铜臭味了 |url=https://www.foodaily.com/articles/24708 |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=Foodaily}} Guangzhou,{{Cite web |date=2020-08-30 |title=九龍城寨重現廣州！全新網紅打卡點 「超級文和友」 |url=https://hk.news.yahoo.com/%E4%B9%9D%E9%BE%8D%E5%9F%8E%E5%AF%A8%E9%87%8D%E7%8F%BE%E5%BB%A3%E5%B7%9E-%E5%85%A8%E6%96%B0%E7%B6%B2%E7%B4%85%E6%89%93%E5%8D%A1%E9%BB%9E-%E8%B6%85%E7%B4%9A%E6%96%87%E5%92%8C%E5%8F%8B-155924961.html |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=Yahoo News |language=zh-Hant-HK}} and Shenzhen{{Cite web |last=流螢 |date=2021-04-16 |title=灣區打卡｜深圳「小香港」 文和友再現九龍城寨風光 {{!}} 探索深圳 {{!}} 樂活灣區 |url=https://www.ourchinastory.com/zh/1397 |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=Our China Story |publisher=Academy of Chinese Studies |language=zh}} that have been likened to the Kowloon Walled City, with some media outlets calling them either inspired by or even "1:1 recreations" of the city.{{cite web |last1=梁芷維 |title=深圳文和友神還原昔日九龍城寨 2萬平方米/打卡霓虹燈/湘菜笨羅卜 |url=https://utravel.com.hk/news/detail/20034656/%E6%B7%B1%E5%9C%B3%E6%96%87%E5%92%8C%E5%8F%8B%E7%A5%9E%E9%82%84%E5%8E%9F%E6%98%94%E6%97%A5%E4%B9%9D%E9%BE%8D%E5%9F%8E%E5%AF%A8-2%E8%90%AC%E5%B9%B3%E6%96%B9%E7%B1%B3-%E6%89%93%E5%8D%A1%E9%9C%93%E8%99%B9%E7%87%88-%E6%B9%98%E8%8F%9C%E7%AC%A8%E7%BE%85%E5%8D%9C/1 |website=UTravel |access-date=20 January 2025}}

{{Portal|China|Hong Kong|Architecture}}

• Centro Financiero Confinanzas, an abandoned skyscraper in Caracas, Venezuela populated in a similar manner
• Dharavi, a densely populated community within Mumbai which has developed a similar localised economy and unplanned infrastructure system.
• Kamagasaki in Osaka, Japan
• Ras Khamis, a neighbourhood in East Jerusalem that also has unplanned highrise construction due to uncertain political jurisdiction
• Shibam in eastern Yemen, nicknamed "the oldest skyscraper city in the world", resembles Kowloon Walled City in manner of urban planning.
• Treasure Hill, formerly an illegal settlement in Taipei founded by Chinese Nationalist military veterans at the end of the 1940s

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist

|refs=

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{{cite web |url = http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=62753 |title= Re-Cycle |last = Shingleton |first = Matt |date=12 September 2006 |work = The DVD Times |access-date =17 October 2009}}

{{cite web |url= http://www.thunderboltgames.com/reviews/article/stranglehold-review-for-pc.html |title= Stranglehold |last= McMillan |first= Fraser |date= 7 September 2009 |publisher= Thunderbolt |access-date= 24 October 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120722183521/http://thunderboltgames.com/reviews/article/stranglehold-review-for-pc.html |archive-date= 22 July 2012 |url-status= dead }}

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{{cite book |title = Shadowrun: Runner Havens |last = Boyle |first = Rob |publisher= Fanpro |date= 2006 |isbn = 978-1-932564-68-6 |url= https://www.scribd.com/doc/6707787/Runner-Havens |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090123192544/http://www.scribd.com/doc/6707787/Runner-Havens |archive-date = 23 January 2009 |pages = 13, 26 |access-date = 17 October 2009 }}

}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite book |last=Graudin |first=Ryan |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/864752912 |title=The Walled City |date=November 2014 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |others=Non-fictional passages also by Ryan Graudin |isbn=978-0-316-40505-8 |edition=1st |oclc=864752912}}
• {{cite book |first=Ian | last= Lambot |title= City of Darkness: Life in Kowloon Walled City |publisher= Watermark |year= 2007 |isbn = 978-1-873200-13-1 }}
• {{cite book |first = Alan |last = Smart |title = The Shek Kip Mei Myth: Squatters, Fires and Colonial Rule in Hong Kong, 1950–1963 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vZg9Aj80VTIC |date = 2006 |publisher = Hong Kong University Press |isbn = 978-962-209-792-6 }}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• {{cite book |last1=Girard |first1=Greg |author-link1=Greg Girard |last2=Lambort |first2=Ian |author-link2= |last3=Goddard |first3=Charles |author-link3= |date=1993 |title=City of Darkness – Life in Kowloon Walled City |language=en |publisher=Watermark |isbn=978-1873200896 |oclc=767526480 |ol=OL8653461M |df=dmy-all}}
• City of Darkness: Revisited, by Ian Lambot (writer, photographer) and Greg Girard (photographer), published by Watermark, 2014, {{ISBN|9781873200889}} (revised edition of City of Darkness)
• {{nihongo3|"Kowloon Walled City Exploration: People Who Live in the Devil's Den (City of Darkness)"|九龍城探訪 魔窟で暮らす人々 City of Darkness|Kyūryūjō Tanbō Makutsu de Kurasu Hitobito: City of Darkness}}, by Ian Lambot (writer, photographer) and Greg Girard (photographer), published by EastPress, 2004, {{ISBN|9784872574234}} (Japanese edition of City of Darkness)
• {{nihongo3|"Grand Kowloon Walled City Schematics"|大図解九龍城|Daizukai Kyūryūjō}}, by the Kyūryūjō Tankentai (the "Kowloon Walled City Exploration Team"), including Hitomi Terasawa (illustrator), Takayuki Suzuki (architect) and Hiroaki Kani (supervisor), published by Iwanami Shoten, 1997, {{ISBN|9784000080705}}
• {{nihongo3|"Kowloon Walled City"|九龍城砦|Kyūryūjōsai}}, by Ryūji Miyamoto (photographer), Hiroshi Aramata (text contributor) and Ken'ichi Ōhashi (text contributor), published by Heibonsha, 1997, {{ISBN|9784582277364}}; Heibonsha, 1998, ; Heibonsha, 1999
• {{nihongo3|"The End of Kowloon Walled City"|最期の九龍城砦|Saigo no Kyūryūjōsai}}, by Shintarō Nakamura, published by Shinpusha, 1996, {{ISBN|9784883066469}}
• An Architectural Study on the Kowloon Walled City: Preliminary Findings, by Suenn Ho, published by Columbia University, 1992{{ISBN?}}
• Jiulong Cheng Zhai shihua ({{zh|t=九龍城寨史話|l=Kowloon Walled City's History|labels=no}}), by Lu Jinzhe, published by Joint Publishing, 1997, {{ISBN|9789620406829}}
• {{zh|t=九龍城寨: 一個特殊社區的地理透視|l=Kowloon Walled City: A Geographical Perspective of a Special Community|labels=no}}, by Wong Kwan-yiu et al., published by the Chinese University of Hong Kong – Department of Geography, 1992
• FARMAX: Excursions on Density, by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Richard Koek (main contributors), published by 010 Publishers, 1998, {{ISBN|9789064502668}}; 010 Publishers, 2006, {{ISBN|9789064505874}}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• The Walled City ({{zh|t=城寨|labels=no}}), as part of Hong Kong Connection's ({{zh|t=鏗鏘集|labels=no}}) 70th segment, produced by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), 1979
• Hongkongs geheime Stadt – Ein Labyrinth für 50.000 Menschen ("Hong Kong's Secret City: A Labyrinth for 50,000 People"), produced by Hugo Portisch of the public Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), 1989
• Kowloon Walled City, as part of Whicker's World, produced by ITV Yorkshire, 1980
• City of Imagination: Kowloon Walled City 20 Years Later (archive footage by ORF and Suenn Ho), produced by The Wall Street Journal, 2014

{{refend}}

{{external media

|image1={{Commons category-inline|Kowloon Walled City}}

|image2={{Commons category-inline|Kowloon Walled City Park}}

|video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEfs4bB7Yfo Video clip of the City] {{in lang|en}}

|image3=[https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/2013/03/16/scm_news_1.1.nws_backart1_1_0.jpg "City of Anarchy", Infographic of Kowloon Walled City] (SCMP News)}}

• {{official website|http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/parks/kwcp/index.html}} for Kowloon Walled City Park, Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD).

;Unofficial analyses:

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20020208225753/http://www.flex.co.jp/kowloon/story/index_e.html A team's exploration of the City before demolition]
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120502075558/http://www.archidose.org/KWC/ Historical, architectural and political overview]}}
• [http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1191748/kowloon-walled-city-life-city-darkness Kowloon Walled City life] (South China Morning Post article)
• [http://projects.wsj.com/kwc/ Kowloon Walled City project], Wall Street Journal
• [https://www.citylab.com/design/2014/11/rare-maps-show-life-in-hong-kongs-vice-filled-walled-city/382415/ Rare Maps Show Life in Hong Kong's Vice-Filled 'Walled City']
• [http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/dark-tower-of-dreams-inside-the-walled-city-of-kowloon-1.4359114 "Dark tower of dreams: Inside the Walled City of Kowloon"], CBC Ideas. CBC Radio One. 18 October 2017. (Retrieved 12 July 2018.)
• [https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/kowloon-walled-city "The Strange Saga of Kowloon Walled City"] Atlas Obscura. 06 January 2020 (Retrieved 24 September 2022.)

{{Kowloon City District}}

{{Hong Kong topics}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Forts in Hong Kong

Category:Declared monuments of Hong Kong

Category:Archaeological sites in Hong Kong

Category:Landmarks in Hong Kong

Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Hong Kong

Category:Kowloon City

Category:Former populated places in China

Category:Former buildings and structures in Hong Kong

Category:Territorial disputes of the Republic of China

Category:Slums in Asia

Category:Former enclaves

Category:Triad (organized crime)

Category:Disputed territories in Asia

Category:Territorial disputes of the United Kingdom

Category:Evicted squats

Category:City-states