Description

"The City of Darkness - The lawless high-rise where 33,000 people lived without government" explores the strange existence of the Kowloon Walled City. Until its demolition in 1993, this 6-acre patch of land in Hong Kong was the most densely populated place on Earth. Due to a diplomatic loophole, neither Britain nor China claimed jurisdiction over it.Author David Block details the organic growth of this "architectural tumor." Buildings were stacked atop one another without blueprints, connected by a maze of dripping pipes and dark alleyways where sunlight never reached. Inside, triads ran opium dens next to unlicensed dentists and noodle factories. Yet, amidst the crime and squalor, a tight-knit, functioning community emerged."The City of Darkness" is a study of human adaptability. It shows how order can emerge from total anarchy and how a society functioned for decades without police, taxes, or building codes, creating a cyberpunk reality before the genre even existed.