Hidden Reality: Life in Hong Kong's Cage Homes.

[Music] foreign [Music] international trading port it's one of the world's Main Financial and business hubs they're a modern high-rise buildings tourist attractions and popular shopping areas this is the Hong Kong that many people know [Music] but today we'll show you another side of Hong Kong it's a site that no one wants to reveal or even see this is a 20-story building with no elevator [Music] we had to climb a narrow steep dark staircase to the roof there's no Garden or swimming pool on this rooftop but there is a house the house has a toilet right next to the kitchen area and a small Nook for sleeping the owner of the house is a middle-aged woman who lives in this house alone [Music] um some people call places like this the sky is slum a house like this is an alternative for low-income people in a city where the rents are high living on the roof of a building is dangerous and illegal the Hong Kong government is trying to evict them some families persist because they have no choice law fug's family were among the first to live on the roof of this building she said she'll definitely not move out of her house in which she's lived for more than 10 years even though she has the opportunity to get a quota for public housing which may have more space foreign although Hong Kong's GDP continues to grow the gap between the wealthy and the poor has also increased Hong Kong is one of the world's most economically unequal cities it is also one of the world's most expensive cities in which to live and has the world's most expensive real estate Hong Kong has around 20 percent of the poor living below the poverty line or about 1.2 million people at least 170 000 Hong Kong people live in houses like this another type of home in Hong Kong are shared Flats on average a flat unit is divided into four or five sub-units when divided the total usable living area is approximately 10 square meters per family Hong Kong people call this type of residence a box house this kind of rented house is small cramped and lacks privacy another important issue is clean air and ventilation these are basic necessities for life foreign was an expansion by the owner who hoped to earn more rent there are no windows here to let in the light the room is completely sealed because it is next to the Neighbors box when Lynn told us that she never sees the sunlight when she wakes up in the morning oh if you want to see more great content from all over the world please like the video subscribe to our Channel and hit the Bell icon thank you another type of rented house in Hong Kong is called the cage home rental cages have been around since the 1950s and 60s when the population was growing due to the immigration of Chinese workers at its peak there were five to six hundred cage homes for rent living in cages stacked on top of each other which resemble livestock coops led the government to ban this type of house foreign [Music] banned cage home rentals there were coffin homes instead this room is about 20 square meters there are 14 coffin-like boxes stacked on top of each other each box is home to one person this room is used for sleeping and storing personal belongings the cramped space means some people have to curl up there's no window sunlight or ventilation this type of rented accommodation is like an underground business which no one wants to talk about no one went to inform the authorities because it was a mutual benefit for the landlord and the tenant [Music] [Music] foreign homes are popular especially among illegal immigrants whether it's in a cage in a coffin or in a box poor Hong Kong people need it as a home the main reason is all about making a living these people work in the city some people have to work 12 hours a day it's more convenient to live in the city okay that is vegan bacon what what but the government take down these ruthless housing what they are building is those high rises long hand face somewhere like this the long hand place before is these glasses housing so you need something that is not affordable so the land must be not enough this is not because the land is really not enough in Hong Kong they are not plants there are many vacant place where you can support less serious flats are everywhere in some circle in Long Grove in Kun Kong everywhere but they awakened why the people take it as a property to invest to make money but not for the basic need of people yeah Hong Kong's mass transit system is convenient and comprehensive the rising cost however is a hardship for the urban poor with the population of nearly 8 million and a land area of 1096 square kilometers Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities in the world with an average of 6936 people per square kilometer more than 50 percent of people here live in public housing which is cheaper than market prices questions allocated housing or a public housing project cannot however be obtained easily people who get a house like this must be fully qualified the high demand for housing has caused some people to wait for a long time she's qualified then she also the blue car it means she don't she doesn't know if she is qualified or not because the government also did not tell her that she's not called [Music] Hong Kong's poverty rate Rose from 11.9 percent in 1986 to 20.1 percent in 2006. Hong Kong has more than one million workers who used to work in factories when the economic structure changed from industrial to service these people lost their jobs most of these workers are from China they're not entitled to social welfare or the right to rent public housing a law which came into effect in 2004 requires migrant workers to live in Hong Kong for at least seven years to be eligible getting public housing is difficult and takes time people with the family are the top priority for the government when reviewing and granting houses [Music] this is why those who rent cage or coffin homes tend to be middle-aged and older the ones who tend to be the last on the government's list on the other hand the overcrowding in the city has caused a group of people to leave the city and go back to their Roots farming foreign [Music] before the British occupation a modern city like Hong Kong was farmland this land is Hong Kong's largest Paddy field the owner is Alan a former employee of one of Hong Kong's largest real estate firms together with his friends who left the city to grow rice uh everybody said it's crazy man you don't think so it's because this is a great piece of land that we would like to see if we can bring agriculture back in Hong Kong like what we have half a centuries or a centuries ago this vast Paddy field on lantau island was once an important agricultural area of Hong Kong was abandoned after all the migrants went to work in the city so you start to bring back life and agriculture around here yep that's what we call we try to we happen to take the village we do farming activities and then we want more people to come back and do the same thing or some other things you think people coming back we try we try but I I can see that they started to have some feeling about the place and some imaginations so so maybe one day they will decide that they will come back and do something I don't know more people starting to come back again and again to look at the place so this is a good sign [Music] foreign [Music] when we first came here to start our reforming um people will ask when are you going to grow to build a house and uh they don't expect us to to to to really do farming in here and after two years when they constantly seeing us um transporting produce out they start asking hey guys what are you growing start to have a different thinking mentality about what uh what what plan can be used for and this is this is very very to me is very amazing and and people start to change [Music] good in recent years Hong Kong people have become more interested in farming Allen said that when he started farming he had to persuade the owner to rent it to him and his friends the concern however is how long the Paddy field will last amid a Land Development Trend [Music] the streets of Hong Kong are always crowded day and night some tourists and passes by have remarks that Hong Kong's nightlife is vibrant the fact that Hong Kong people like to go out at night could be however because they want to find a place where they can breathe these people will return to the house when it's time for bed for some even sleeping on the street may be more comfortable um oh [Music] I am foreign for them their dream is not a big house or a green lawn and a swimming pool rather it's a dream of meeting basic human needs [Music] and for some it's a dream that may never come true [Music]