How people live in Hong Kong coffin apartments
If you have ever complained that there is not enough space for three people in the kitchen in your apartment, then it is better to save the air. Because you don't know what "not enough space"means yet.
The cosmic rental prices in Hong Kong do not leave people who do not turn millions, no other choice but to huddle in appalling conditions in so-called coffin houses, metal cages and tiny attics.
In these photos, you can see a toilet connected to the kitchen and multi-tiered beds, where the legs can not be fully extended. The conditions are such that they can only be called degrading to human dignity. But, unfortunately, these people have nothing else to do.
The residents of the coffin house are Lam, Wen and Kitty O.
Li and her 6-year-old son and 8‑year-old daughter live in an 11-square-meter room with a bunk bed, a miniature sofa, a refrigerator, a washing machine and a small table.
Hong Kong is considered one of the leading financial centers in Asia. However, the boom in the real estate market has a downside. Hundreds of thousands of people are forced to live in inhumane conditions — overcrowded apartments with many partitions, more like shoe boxes than housing.
The toilet and sink are shared by almost two dozen people, including several single women.
A 5-year-old boy is playing near a tiny house made of concrete and corrugated metal, where he lives with his parents.
The unavailability of housing in Hong Kong remains a serious social problem.
A single mother, Li lives with two children and pays $ 580 a month for an 11-square-meter cell. Half of her salary is spent on rent.
Tse Chu, a retired waiter, sleeps in his corner.
63-year-old Wong Tat-ming is sitting in his apartment, surrounded on all sides by modest belongings: a sleeping bag, a small color TV and a fan. Wong and another resident of the coffin house complain to social workers about bedbugs and cockroaches in the apartment.
80-year-old Cheng Chi-fong can't even stretch his legs on the bed.
Another resident of the apartment.
According to official statistics, about 200 thousand people out of the 7 million population of Hong Kong live in similar conditions, including 35 thousand children.
The statistics do not include those who live illegally in barracks on roofs and in cages.
These houses seem to be from a different universe compared to how rich Hong Kongers live.
Keywords: Asia | Hong Kong | Housing | Design and architecture | Conditions | Society | Rent | Apartments | Crowding