Is Kowloon the end result of Land Value Tax (LVT)?
Tony Gosling
tony at cultureshop.org.uk
Sat May 5 21:04:00 BST 2012
Land value tax
In Hong Kong, a government rent, formerly the crown rent, is levied
in addition to Rates. For properties which are located in the New
Territories (including New Kowloon), or located in the rest of the
territory and of which the land grant take place after 27 May 1985,
the government rent is levied at 3% of the rateable rental value.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax#Hong_Kong
Inside the Kowloon Walled City where 50,000 residents eked out a
grimy living in the most densely populated place on earth
By Pamela Owen - PUBLISHED: 13:21, 5 May 2012 | UPDATED: 15:45, 5 May 2012
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2139914/A-rare-insight-Kowloon-Walled-City.html
Once thought to be the most densely populated place on Earth, with
50,000 people crammed into only a few blocks, these fascinating
pictures give a rare insight into the lives of those who lived
Kowloon Walled City.
Taken by Canadian photographer Greg Girard in collaboration with Ian
Lamboth the pair spent five years familiarising themselves with the
notorious Chinese city before it was demolished in 1992.
The city was a phenomenon with 33,000 families and businesses living
in more than 300 interconnected high-rise buildings, all constructed
without contributions from a single architect.
Kowloon Walled City was notorious for drugs and crime but many of
its 50,000 residents lived their lives peacefully until it was
demolished in the early 90s
Emacs!
Canadian photographer Greg Girard and Ian Lambot spent five years
getting to know the residents and taking pictures of the densely
populated buildings
Mir Lui was assigned to work in the city as a postman in 1976 and
had no choice but to go. He was one of the few people who knew the
ins and outs and wore a hat to protect him from the constant dripping
Ungoverned by Health and Safety regulations, alleyways dripped and
the maze of dark corridors covered one square block near the end of
the runway at Kai Tak Airprot.
'I spent five years photographing and becoming familiar with the
Walled City, its residents, and how it was organised. So seemingly
compromised and anarchic on its surface, it actually worked and to a
large extent, worked well,' said Mr Girard on his website.
Dating back to the Song Dynasty it served as a watch post for the
military to defend the area against pirates and to manage the
production of Salt before eventually coming under British rule.
However, during the Japanese occupation on Hong Kong in the Second
World War parts of it were demolished to provide building materials
for the nearby airport.
Once Japan surrendered from the city, the population dramatically
increased with numerous squatters moving in. Eventually it became a
haven for criminals and drug users and was run by the Chinese Triads
until 1974.
The shrieks of children playing on rooftops were frequently drowned
out by the sounds of jet engines as aircraft powered through their
final 100 metres on the runway at Kai Tak Airport
For many residents who lived in the upper levels of the city, ion
in particular, the roof was an invaluable sanctuary: a 'lung' of
fresh air and escape from the claustrophobia of the windowless flats below
The city, lit up during the night, was the scene of the 1993 movie
Crime Story starring Jackie Chan and includes real scenes of
buildings exploding
A Kowloon Walled City resident who is dissatisfied with
compensation payouts from the government sits on a pavement in
protest as police start the clearance operation
Food processors admitted they had moved into the city to benefit
from the low rents and to seek refuge from the jurisdiction of
government health and sanitation inspectors
A workplace during the day would turn into a living room at night
when Hui Tung Choy's wife and two young daughters joined him at his
noodle business. The children's play and homework space was a
flour-encrusted work bench
By the early 1980s it was notorious for brothels, casinos, cocaine
parlours and opium dens. It was also famous for food courts which
would serve up dog meat and had a number of unscrupulous dentists who
could escape prosecution if anything went wrong with their patients.
The city eventually became the focus of a diplomatic crisis with both
Britain and China refusing to take responsibility.
Despite it being a hotbed of crime many of its inhabitants went about
their lives in relative peace with children playing on the rooftops
and those living in the upper levels seeking refuge high above the city.
The rooftops were the one place they could breathe fresh air and
escape the claustrophobia of their windowless flats below.
Eventually, over time both the British and Chinese authorities found
the city to be increasingly intolerable, despite lower crime rates in
later years.
The quality of life and sanitary conditions were far behind the rest
of Hong Kong and eventually plans were made to demolish the buildings.
Many of the residents protested and said they were happy living in
the squalid conditions but the government spent $2.7billion Hong Kong
dollars in compensation and evacuations started in 1991. They were
completed in 1992.
Law Yu Yi, aged 90, lived in a small and humid third-floor flat
with her son's 68-year-old wife off Lung Chun First Alley. The
arrangement is typical of traditional Chinese values in which the
daughter-in-law looks after her inlaws
Emacs!
Grocery-store owner Chan Pak, 60, in his tiny shop on Lung Chun
Back Road. He had a particular passion for cats and owned seven when
this picture was taken
This hairdresser puts curlers in a customer's hair at a salon in
the city. Many people continued to live their lives normally despite
drug and crime problems
A child with a grazed knee sits on a counter top in a tiny shop
which sells essentials like toilet paper and canned foods. Cigarettes
are also on display in a cabinet
The area was made up of 300 interconnected high-rise buildings,
built without the contributions of a single architect and ungoverned
by Hong Kong's health and safety regulations
Thousands of people went about their lives daily with many making
do with what space they had to grow plants or hand washing on
balconies above the busy shops and streets below
A rooftop view of the city at night which shows just a few of the
thousands of TV aerials which sit on the buildings
Over time, both the British and the Chinese governments found the
massive, anarchic city to be increasingly intolerable - despite the
low reported crime rate in later years
Workers - not restricted by health and safety regulations -
prepare their fish for sale and, right, a wall in a home adorned with
clocks and pictures of relatives
Daylight barely penetrates the rubbish-strewn grille over the
city's Tin Hau Temple which was built in 1951 on an alley off Lo Yan Street
The government spent around 2.7 billion Hong Kong dollars in
compensation to the estimated 33,000 families and businesses. Some
were not satisfied and tried to stop the evacuations
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2139914/A-rare-insight-Kowloon-Walled-City.html#ixzz1u1kRie9K
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