Tseung Kwan O: Urban Planning By Psychopaths?

Wed, 27/10/2010 - 1:48am

Earlier this week I did a feature on the state of the Hong Kong property market.

These photos were taken in the Tseung Kwan O (TKO) district of Kowloon.

Apparently, Hong Kong property prices have jumped 48% since January 2009.

This is being largely driven by mainland investors, who are making it impossible for first-time buyers in Hong Kong get on the property ladder.

The last two photos are actually of public housing, so not strictly part of the story, but I liked the pink and blue hues.

Incredibly, all of this has sprouted in the last 15 years, and they haven't even finshed it yet. 

Over the years I have heard Hong Kong housing variously described as; "rabbit hutches for humans", "concrete shoeboxes in the sky", "human filing cabinets", "mode of production storage units", and of course, in its wider context, "psychopathic urban planning".

Hemlock blogged about the place here.

ALEX HOFFORD : HONG KONG CHINA PHOTOGRAPHER

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Urban Psycopaths

Submitted by Davidq (not verified) on Mon, 10/01/2011 - 7:53am.

Hi Alex

I understand Ur point of view... they are shoeboxes. But they are (relatively to HK prices) cheap shoeboxes....most of the residents would probably like to live in a beach front mansion, but they ain't exactly low cost.

As for me, I don't own a home and I can't afford one now... I'd be proud and honoured to own one of these apartments. Until every world citizen is rich, sometimes "pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap" is the best approach.

Cheers, David

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Nice photos

Submitted by David (not verified) on Mon, 10/01/2011 - 7:53am.

By the way, I really enjoyed these photos :-D

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