It was indeed happening every day throughout the day in the real Kowloon Walled City.
 |
| An aircraft flying just above the real Kowloon Walled City roottop. Source: designboom.com |
 |
| Evening on the roof of the real Kowloon Walled City, observing a plane landing to Kai Tat Airport. Source: designboom.com |
The history behind
All the above amazing characteristics of the Walled City were all started by the Chinese Qing Empire leasing New Kowloon and New Territories to The United Kingdom under the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory in 1898. At that time, the Chinese officials came up with the idea of maintaining the country's rule over a city inside the leased land. The officials thought that such an exclave would help keeping the country's tie with the leased land and help claiming it 99 years later. The exclave in this case in the Kowloon Walled City.
 |
| 1915 map of the Hong Kong region with the Kowloon Walled City listed as "Chinese Town" at the upper right-hand corner. Source: Wikipedia |
The British tried claiming the right to rule that exclave from time to time. In 1899, the British succeeded in getting all the Chinese officers and soldiers away from the City. The Yamen Building in the central area was used by different religious groups as a home for the aged, a home for widows and orphans, a school and a clinic, among other things.
However, any attempts of the British Hong Kong government to take over the control of the City failed, due to the opposition from the Chinese government and the Chinese living in the City. Finally in 1948, the British and the Hong Kong governments decided to give up and let it to be. Meanwhile, the Chinese officials had no way to enter the Walled City since it was surrounded by British land, not even talking about ruling it. The City thus turned out to be a power vacuum which the British government didn't want to rule, the Hong Kong government was afraid to rule, and the Chinese government had no way to rule -- not under jurisdiction of any of the three government.
 |
| The "Not under jurisdiction of any of the three governments" graffiti (in Chinese 三不管 on the right of this screenshot) in Shenmue II |
With no government enforcement, the stakeholders of the Walled City including the landlords and the tenants just have no motivation to do anything beyond the bare minimum. Therefore you saw apartments and walkways that were added in an ad-hoc, unorganized manner yet working. Facilities and hygiene were not well taken care of. The only open space remained were the central Yamen area that I mentioned earlier, and the rooftop which the residents used for relaxation or even homework. Unregulated businesses, unlicensed doctors and dentists, crime and triad activities were not interrupted as long as they did not affect the living of the landlords and the tenants.
One thing to note is that even though the Hong Kong government did not enforce laws this area and collect no dues from the residents inside, there did exist limited essential government services such as water, mail and even police patrol.
The only Hong Kong law that was effectively executed in the Walled City was perhaps the one governing the height of the buildings, but again for a pragmatic reason. The City was located just 800m away from the Kai Tat Airport (1925-1998), and was close to the path that flights took to approach the airport. As a result, the buildings in the Walled City did not get more than 14 floors in order to avoid collisions with the planes, and one could observe planes flying just above him while he was in the City.
 |
| The path for flights to approach Kai Tak Airport. Source: SCMP |
Side note: Where was the Wall of the Walled City?
Even though there is "Walled" in its name, the City one did not have any wall around it. Why was that? For that, we need to dig into its history further.
In ancient times, Kowloon Walled City was a typical small outpost and coastal fort without any wall. It was after the British occupation of Hong Kong Island in 1841 that the Qing Empire realized the importance of defensing territory. In 1846, the Qing Empire constructed a wall to enclose the area, the origin of "Walled" in the name of the place.
 |
| Model of Kowloon Walled City in the mid 19th century. Source: Wikipedia |
 |
| Kowloon Walled City in 1910s. Source: Hong Kong Museum of History via wsj.com |
 |
| The South Gate of Kowloon Walled City. Source: Wikipedia |
However, when the Japanese occupied Hong Kong during World War II, the wall was demolished and its stone were taken away to build the drainage of the Kai Tat Airport nearby.
 |
| The Kai Tat Airport runway in 1971. Source: Wikipedia |
If the wall had not been demolished, the wall and its entrance into the City would have been looked like what you saw in
Shenmue II...
 |
| The city wall of Kowloon City in Shenmue II. |
... but not just broken signs now.
 |
| Remnants of the City's South Gate and its entrance plaques. Source: Wikipedia |
References
City of Darkness Revisited. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://cityofdarkness.co.uk/
Wall Street Journal. (n.d.). Kowloon Walled City. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://projects.wsj.com/kwc
Pictures of Kowloon Walled City. (2013, April 06). Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://hongwrong.com/kowloon-walled-city-photos/
ケロ. (n.d.). 九龍城砦探検記１. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://www.geocities.co.jp/SilkRoad/9613/kyuryu/kyuryu1.html
Chan, W. (2015, January 02). Kowloon Walled City: In Hong Kong, it was the densest place on Earth. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/31/travel/kowloon-walled-city/index.html
DeHart, J. (2013, April 26). Kowloon Walled City: Anarchy and Inspiration in the City of Darkness. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://thediplomat.com/2013/04/kowloon-walled-city-anarchy-and-inspiration-in-the-city-of-darkness/
The Lost Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong as Represented in Video Games. (2014, April 02). Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://untappedcities.com/2011/10/02/kill-screen-kowloon-city-behind-these-walls/
【情報】巨大的立體迷宮--香港九龍寨城(內含大量圖片). (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://forum.gamer.com.tw/Co.php?bsn=60433&sn=605187
香港高登討論區 (n.d.). 【時事台】紀錄片 - 九龍城寨 (多圖) by 軍事家. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://m3.hkgolden.com/view.aspx?message=6335212&type=CA
Carney, J. (2015, February 12). Kowloon Walled City: Life in the City of Darkness. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1191748/kowloon-walled-city-life-city-darkness
Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong Government. (n.d.). Declared Monuments in Hong Kong. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Monument/en/monuments_63.php
陳雲. (2005). 「守土與抗命」──九龍城寨的歷史意義與公園改裝建議. In 我思故我在──香港的風俗與文化 (pp. 154-170). 香港: 花千樹出版社.
