Kowloon: Self-governing Community Interwoven with Organized Crime

Abstract

A small part of a district of Hong-Kong used to be the most densely populated area in the world. It was called “Hong-Kong Walled City”, and because of its particular legal and geographical position, it became a place without administration, without laws and rules. The area without regulations, which was smaller than 3 hectares, was the home of tens of thousands of people. How could a community like that exist and what role did the organized crime groups play in its life? The author tries to answer these questions from the perspective of history, sociology and criminology, and in the meanwhile, introduce the specifics of everyday life as well.