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Essay On Poverty In Hong Kong

735 Words3 Pages

Trip
It’s quite easy to get lost in the streets of Hong Kong.
The labyrinth-like streets, the endless array of shops and people make it difficult to discern your location. What’s even more mind numbing is if your gaze ventures up into the residential floors towering over the streets.
Millions of people are packed into Hong Kong and it’s surrounding territories. Remember, this is the area where the infamous Kowloon Walled City once resided and it’s amazing 40 sqft per person density. There are just under 7.5m people who live in the area and boasts the world’s 4th highest population density.
And the population continues to grow. Even with strict migration rules imposed by China, mainland migrants pour into Hong Kong (over 1.5m of them) now make up more than 20% of the population. …show more content…

Hong Kong’s income inequality is the 2nd worst (only to New York). 10 percent of the population makes an average of HK$2,560 ($327.50/monthly). The cost for housing, and a large part of the reason why population density is so high is also a major problem. With a median income of $300,000HKD (~$38,380/USD) the median home price runs to $5,422,000 (~$693,660/USD) making home ownership a dream for most.
So what do people do to cope with these conditions?
Almost every store I saw on the street was starving of shelf space, with inventory covering every inch of the shop. Subways were so packed there was the necessity for subway officials to physically push people into the trains.
With space at such a premium, some people are forced to live in “coffin homes”. It’s estimated that over a quarter of a million people live in tiny illegally subdivided homes no larger than 20 sqft. All at a price of around $300USD. For more reading check out this photo piece in the Atlantic on coffin homes and this article about a week in the Lucky House published by the

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