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Online Gallery – On the Verge of Metropolis: Squatters in Hong Kong

Online Gallery – On the Verge of Metropolis: Squatters in Hong Kong

A visual journey in post-war Hong Kong. These rare and striking images remind us a time before Hong Kong emerged as the high-rise financial hub we know today.


Squatters in Hong Kong: 1950s – 1980s. Ko Tim Keung

Between the late 1940s and 1970s, Hong Kong faced immense problems arising from a surge in urban population. At the end of the war, the number stood at around 600,000. By the end of the 1970s, it had skyrocketed to five million, almost 90% of which was within the urban areas. Besides the high rate of natural increase, of greater importance was immigration from mainland China. It was estimated that by the late 1960s, the densities of population in sizeable urban areas had become perhaps the highest in the world. Read more

 

  • Residents returned to the site of Nga Choi Hang squatter area in North Point hillside where homes once stood to salvage useful items after the government’s compulsory clearance of squatters (1951)
  • Squatter huts around Shau Kei Wan (1920s)
  • Squatter huts around Shau Kei Wan (1920s)
  • Boat squatters in Aberdeen (1958)
  • Stilt huts in Tai O (1958)
  • Squatter huts in the foothill of Shau Kei Wan, constructed primarily of wood (1962)
  • Squatter residents of the Shau Kei Wan foothills, indomitability written all over their faces (1962)
  • Squatter hut in the foothill of Shau Kei Wan (1962)
  • Boat squatters and stilt huts in Aberdeen, the site was later reclaimed to become an industrial zone (1964)
  • Boat squatters in Aberdeen. Known as Staunton Creek then, the place was filled in in the mid 1960s and became an industrial area (1958)
  • Boat squatters at Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter (1964)
  • Tai Hang Squatters (1964)
  • A squatter village in Tai Hang Tung (1964)
  • Many squatter boats moored at the Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter. To get to and from shore, dwellers had to ride on a sampan (1964)
  • Ma Tsai Hang squatter area below the Lion Rock (1965)
  • Ma Tsai Hang squatter area below the Lion Rock (1965)
  • Squatter structures near Tin Hau. Since no vehicular access was available, residents had to walk down a long slope to school or work (1965)
  • Squatter huts constructed next to a gully in Shau Kei Wan, which caused safety concern besides its deplorable sanitation environment (1965)
  • Children living in Tai Hang squatter area (1966)
  • Children living in Tai Hang squatter area. Access between those structures was paved with stones (1966)
  • Squatter huts in Kowloon Tong Model Village. The site now stands Baptist University Road Campus (1966)
  • Tin Hau’s hillside squatter area, located on a higher position than that of the residential buildings in the distance (1966)
  • A squatter hut built on a rock. Commuting at night would be quite dangerous (1966)
  • Squatter dwellings on the hillside seen from Tai On Building in Shau Kei Wan. Many were constructed of stone and brick, instead of wood in earlier times (1967)
  • Squatter huts built along the steep slopes of Tai Hang (1968)
  • Squatter huts outside the Kowloon Walled City (1968)
  • Squatter huts built beside a nullah in Kowloon Tsai. Commuters had to be cautious lest accident happened (1969)
  • Passage between the stilt huts in Shau Kei Wan turned into children’s playground (1969)
  • Stilt huts in Shau Kei Wan, with terrible sanitation environment (1969)
  • Passage between the stilt huts in Shau Kei Wan turned into children’s playground (1969)
  • A time when Hong Kong was a city of children. Stilt huts in Shau Kei Wan (1969)
  • Life in stilt huts in Shau Kei Wan (1969)
  • A group of cheerful children in front of a stilt hut in Shau Kei Wan (1969)
  • Stilt huts in Cha Kwo Ling (1970)
  • Squatter huts on the hillside of Kowloon Tsai (1970)
  • Four children inside a squatter hut, with a baby sleeping on the floor (1970)
  • Children living in stilt huts in Tai O playing in the mud at low tide (1970)
  • Kowloon Tsai squatter area. It had been growing into a town to comprise shops, factories and schools as well as a church (1971)
  • Squatter huts around Diamond Hill (1972)
  • Kowloon Tsai squatter area before the great fire (1971)
  • Kowloon Tsai squatter area devastated by the great fire. A stone structure built on the hill, the church still stood defiantly (1974)Residents returned to the fire-ravaged Kowloon Tsai squatter area to recover their belongings (1974)
  • Kowloon Tsai squatter area after the great fire. The Housing Department later built Nam Shan Estate there (1974)
  • Inside a squatter hut. Many residents used kerosene lamp for lighting, thus increasing fire hazard (1975)
  • Stilt huts in Chai Wan. The location now stands Yee Tsui Court (1976)
  • Squatter huts on the hillside of Chai Wan (1976)
  • Stilt huts in Yuen Chau Tsai, Tai Po. Similar to that of Shau Kei Wan, sanitation environment was dreadful (1977)
  • Stilt huts in Yuen Chau Tsai, Tai Po (1977)
  • Stilt huts in Yuen Chau Tsai, Tai Po (1977)
  • Stilt huts in Yuen Chau Tsai, Tai Po (1977)
  • Stilt huts in Yuen Chau Tsai, Tai Po (1977)
  • Stilt huts in Yuen Chau Tsai, Tai Po (1977)
  • Stilt huts in Yuen Chau Tsai, Tai Po (1977)
  • Stilt huts in Yuen Chau Tsai, Tai Po (1977)
  • Boat squatters at Castle Peak Bay (1978)
  • Squatter huts around Diamond Hill (1978)
  • Squatter huts near Tsui Ping Road, Kwun Tong (1978)
  • Stilt huts in Tsing Yi. The area now stands Villa Esplanada (1978)
  • Squatter huts below Victoria Road (1978)
  • Squatter huts below Victoria Road, a few even included a “balcony” (1978)
  • Squatter huts outside the Kowloon Walled City (1979)
  • During the Lei Yue Mun squatter fire, some of the dwellers packed up their belongings and escaped (1979)
  • Lei Yue Mun squatter fire (1979
  • Residents returned to the scene to salvage items after the Ma Chai Hang squatter fire (1979)
  • Stilt huts in Mui Wo (1979)
  • Boat squatters at Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter (1979)
  • Boat squatters at Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter (1979)
  • Aerial view of boat squatters at Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter (1979)
  • Squatter area in Sau Mau Ping, with quarries along Anderson Road in the background (1980)
  • Squatter huts around Sau Mau Ping (1980)
  • Squatter huts along a road in Lam Tin, those on the slope looked especially dangerous (1981)
  • Squatter huts around Sau Mau Ping (1982)
  • Shau Kei Wan foothills still covered by squatter structures. The area now stands public rental housing and subsidised-sale estate such as Hing Tung Estate and Tung Hei Court (1982)
  • Squatter huts below Victoria Road. All were built on very steep hillside (1983)
  • Squatter area in Tsz Wan Shan, residents named it “Heung Yeung Tsuen” (1992)
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