4 ms·

I wish the people romanticizing or fetishizing Kowloon Walled City could have been forced to live there. They remind me of the urban planners of the 50s and 60

I wish the people romanticizing or fetishizing Kowloon Walled City could have been forced to live there. They remind me of the urban planners of the 50s and 60s who designed dense barren concrete monstrosities for the proles to live in as part of various urban renewal projects, from the comfort of their suburban garden estates.

mrbungie 2y ago
Are people really romanticizing it out there? I find it really draws my attention in a morbid sense associated to looking at what was a very alien way of living, but I would hate to live in those conditions.
_yb2s 2y ago
People aren't romanticizing it in a positive way, they are mostly fascinated by the bleakness of it- and shocked that something they thought was relegated to fiction actually existed in real life. Much of HN grew up as nerdy kids on cyberpunk SciFi like Blade Runner, Johnny Mnemonic, and the Matrix and this looks exactly like that, which is no coincidence, because that aesthetic was largely based on Kowloon Walled City itself, unknowingly to the people consuming it. The cyberpunk author William Gibson was aware of and inspired by Kowloon Walled City. Cyberpunk is characterized by "high tech low life" - it is seen as awful and dehumanizing, something people might want to read a book or watch a movie about, but not live themselves. In hindsight, the whole Cyberpunk aesthetic being based on real world inhumane living conditions that actually already existed might be inappropriate by modern standards. It is making an amusing fantasy or spectacle out of other peoples suffering- however Gibson, etc. were using this setting mostly because they had a negative view about the impacts of technology on humanity, and were writing fiction to express and warn people about these concerns.
WarOnPrivacy 2y ago
> I wish the people romanticizing or fetishizing Kowloon Walled City could have been forced to live there. In 1987, I would have found KWC a step up from my homelessness. > They remind me of the urban planners of the 50s and 60s who designed dense barren concrete monstrosities US 2021: People were forced out of long-term rentals and found there was nowhere to go. People with money in the bank became homeless. Concrete monstrosities would have improved their poor options. Before eliminating an awful thing, we might want to eliminate the need for it.
NoMoreNicksLeft 2y ago
My first awareness of KWC was reading one of the SPCs, apparently this one. https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-184 https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-184
31carmichael 2y ago
I wish you could have been forced to live there.

mrbungie 2y ago

Are people really romanticizing it out there? I find it really draws my attention in a morbid sense associated to looking at what was a very alien way of living, but I would hate to live in those conditions.

_yb2s 2y ago

People aren't romanticizing it in a positive way, they are mostly fascinated by the bleakness of it- and shocked that something they thought was relegated to fiction actually existed in real life. Much of HN grew up as nerdy kids on cyberpunk SciFi like Blade Runner, Johnny Mnemonic, and the Matrix and this looks exactly like that, which is no coincidence, because that aesthetic was largely based on Kowloon Walled City itself, unknowingly to the people consuming it. The cyberpunk author William Gibson was aware of and inspired by Kowloon Walled City. Cyberpunk is characterized by "high tech low life" - it is seen as awful and dehumanizing, something people might want to read a book or watch a movie about, but not live themselves. In hindsight, the whole Cyberpunk aesthetic being based on real world inhumane living conditions that actually already existed might be inappropriate by modern standards. It is making an amusing fantasy or spectacle out of other peoples suffering- however Gibson, etc. were using this setting mostly because they had a negative view about the impacts of technology on humanity, and were writing fiction to express and warn people about these concerns.

WarOnPrivacy 2y ago

> I wish the people romanticizing or fetishizing Kowloon Walled City could have been forced to live there. In 1987, I would have found KWC a step up from my homelessness. > They remind me of the urban planners of the 50s and 60s who designed dense barren concrete monstrosities US 2021: People were forced out of long-term rentals and found there was nowhere to go. People with money in the bank became homeless. Concrete monstrosities would have improved their poor options. Before eliminating an awful thing, we might want to eliminate the need for it.

NoMoreNicksLeft 2y ago

My first awareness of KWC was reading one of the SPCs, apparently this one. https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-184 https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-184

31carmichael 2y ago

I wish you could have been forced to live there.