SPEAKING NOTES
GEOGRAPHY, STATUS AND TOFULATION
The Walled City is neither walled nor a city.
It is a 6 acre area of densely-packed tenements near Kaitak Airport in Kowloon. The Chinese claim that
the Walled City falls outside Hong Kong jurisdiction. The population of the Walled City as given by the 1971 census was 10,004 . The population per acre on that basis would be about 1,500. This is however almost certainly a major underestimate, and recent surveys by the City District Office, Kowloon City indicate a population of about 27,000 which would give a population density of 4,000 per acre.
POLITICAL
The Chinese have in the past claimed jurisdiction over the Walled City and in 1963 they' protested when the Hong Kong Government attempted to carry out clearance operations. The issue is therefore a sensitive one. We believe that the risks attached to precipitate action might create problems worse than the conditions themselves. The Governor's aim is to build up a working relationship with the inhabitants of the Walled City which will enable specific problems to be discussed on the local level.
ENVIRONMENTAL
The population density in the Walled City is very high, even for Hong Kong. But it is a small area of under 61 acres: and the population density over the whole of Mongkok, the central industrial area of Kowloon, is also very high.
It would also be wrong to see the Walled City as a lawless enclave outside the control of the Hong Kong
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