In Portraits from Above: Hong Kong’s Informal Rooftop Communities, photographer Stefan Canham and architect Rufina Wu investigate the rooftop slums of Hong Kong. The research includes architectural drawings of the homes and personal stories of the residents living within the slums. At the end of the book comes a great essay by Dr.Ernest Chui which gives a nice historical and social context for the rooftops existence.
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| Rooftops Photograph. In Portraits from Above: Hong Kong's Informal Rooftop Communities, by Stefan Canham and Rufina Wu. Peperoni Books 2008. |
The research that I have done over the past week has shown that the Hong Kong slums are quite unique. The rooftop slums tend to exist atop old residential structures built in the 1940’s and 1950’s and are only accessible by staircase. They are built up from scratch out of scrap materials of wood, sheet metal, and sometimes concrete and can best be referred to as “make-shift” structures. Often, the residents build up the structure by themselves.
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| Detail Drawing. In Portraits from Above: Hong Kong's Informal Rooftop Communities by Stefan Canham and Rufina Wu. Peperoni Books 2008. |
Demographically, unlike most slums such as those in Rio de Janeiro, or underground communities within New York, these slums are not necessarily where the eldest or sick people live. The structures within Hong Kong provide alternative housing options within a city dealing with a huge housing crisis. The demographic within the rooftop slums is 95% Chinese migrants and can best be linked to the migrating population of the Chinese into Hong Kong throughout the past century. The other ethnicity found often is Pakistanis and Filipinos from Southeast Asia who were forced to remain in Hong Kong when they were not given right of residency within Britain after 1997. After the handover of Hong Kong, these ethnic minorities struggled to fit in needing to accept the lowest paying jobs and when searching for properties, the Chinese were unwilling to give them the lowest prices of rent. This unfair treatment has created these ethnic communities within the rooftop slums.
Politically, the rooftop communities have a unique dynamic with the government. Although illegal, the government works in what Chui refers to as a “tolerance vs. demolition dynamic.” The rooftop communities are given proper postal codes, tap water supplies, and property tax; essentially similar to all other housing communities within Hong Kong. Furthermore, there are regulations to who can live within the communities.
Finally, the economic structure of the rooftop communities is also quite complex. The assumption would be that this is indeed the housing for the poorest people who cannot afford other accommodation within Hong Kong. However, the research posed shows different results. The residents of rooftop slums are indeed in the lower-income class of the city. However, they pay higher rents for their “slum” style homes than other residents within the same buildings of the area; a difference recently quoted at 2000 HK$ vs. 1677 HK$. Those who are willing to pay the rent for the homes are often willing to do so because although the conditions are worse than other rental options, the spaces are much larger and able to accommodate their families.
If you are interested in more information check out this REALLY great recent documentary about the Rooftop Slums. "Upon a Rooftop" is filmed by Sybil Wendler and recently won the Social Issue Documentary prize in the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. The full film is currently online at the link below.
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| Movie Still from "Upon a Rooftop" by Sybil Wendler. 2011. (18:47) |
I m currently working research of HongKong rooftop slum . Can possible talk to you
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