This is how Hongkong’s ghetto used to look like:

Hak Nam, City of Darkness, the old Walled City of HongKong’s Kowloon was demolished in 1993 and had a strong reputation beingt a haven for criminals and lowlifes.

It was said that the city was so dense you could walk across the rooftops without ever having to touch the ground.

An area 200 by 100 meters of solid building, home to some 35,000 people, not the largest, but certainly one of the densest urban slums in the world.

With that, I found another add to my wishlist of books, though it looks like an expensive one: City of Darkness – Life In Kowloon City

Here’s a set of photos taken by Nick Porcino in 1989 (click for bigger versions):

“I misunderstood which bus to ride and wound up deep in the heart of Kowloon. I ended up spending exactly 24 hours in the area without getting any sleep.”

“Wish I had taken some photos during the night, but the rough environs were making me nervous. Kowloon of course no longer exists as pictured here.”

Before its demolition some movies were filmed in the city – when it was emptied of gangs and crooks – most notably Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Bloodsport: