Environmental Design Commons^™

Quality Of Life In A “High-Rise Lawless Slum”: A Study Of The Kowloon Walled City, Prudencea Leung Kwok Lau, Lawrenceb Wai Chung Lai, Daniel Chi Wing Ho

Faculty of Design & Environment (THEi)

Informed by the ‘quality of life’ model with specific reference to Chinese culture, this article uses reliable and publicly available information seldom used in historical or heritage study to identify the designs of flats and builders of the “Kowloon Walled City” (hereafter the City) and reliable oral testimonies to refute some myths about the quality of life within it. This settlement has been notoriously misrepresented by some as a city of darkness that was razed from the face of the Earth before 1997 to fulfill a pre-war dream of the colonial government. This article confirms the view that this extremely …