"Kowloon Walled City, considered the densest settlement on the planet, was demolished in the mid-1990s. At its height in the '80s, it was home to around 33,000 people-a government survey provided some idea of the local population-but estimates are often closer to 50,000. And that's all within an overall footprint of 2.6 hectares, or just shy of about 6.5 acres. It's an area smaller than five American football fields or about 2.5 New York City blocks."
"Kowloon Walled City continues to fascinate us today, as nothing on its scale had existed before and will likely never again. For an architect who goes by Sluda Builds on YouTube, the astounding, densely packed metropolis spurred an elaborate Minecraft project. From the ground up, including a surprising landscape grade that often doesn't read clearly in photographs, he meticulously reconstructs the city's skyscrapers, mezzanines, interior passageways, rooftops, and alleys."
Kowloon Walled City occupied 2.6 hectares and housed an estimated 33,000–50,000 people, making it the densest known settlement. The site originated as a Song Dynasty military outpost and became a Qing fort in 1810, later lying within British-controlled Kowloon after 1842 while remaining largely neglected. The settlement expanded from a few buildings to a labyrinthine cluster of ad hoc, vertically merged structures with interconnecting doorways, mezzanines, rooftops, and narrow passages that often allowed travel across the city without going outside. Contemporary architects note numerous code violations, and modern reconstructions, including a detailed Minecraft project by Sluda Builds, recreate its complex spatial fabric.
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