Hong Kong wants to demolish squatter settlements to build 9,000 public housing units. The city is ranked one of the most expensive to live and is in the midst of a growing housing crisis.
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00:00Not far from Hong Kong's iconic cityscape is the village of Ta Kwa Ling.
00:06They're worlds apart from one another.
00:0950-year-old Ava Tai was born here and grew up in the village.
00:14She moved into public housing elsewhere 20 years ago when she got married,
00:18but still returns regularly to visit her sister, who remains in the home where they were raised.
00:26We were very poor, but our home was full of warmth.
00:29My mother and father, when we got home, never made it feel empty.
00:36Everyone had to help out, including me, but we were very happy.
00:45Over the past seven decades, Ta Kwa Ling grew into a patchwork of primitive huts
00:50with corrugated iron roofs housing as many as 20,000 people at its peak.
00:55Most who came were destitute migrants from mainland China who came to settle here.
01:00But along with two other squatter settlements in Hong Kong,
01:03it was earmarked in 2019 by the government for redevelopment.
01:07The village is poised to enter the final phase of demolition in the coming year.
01:12It's to be turned into a site for high-rise residential buildings
01:16to help address Hong Kong's massive housing shortage.
01:20For now, the tears won't flow, but as the time draws closer,
01:24you think to yourself that this place will vanish
01:27and everything you know from your childhood will no longer be visible in the future.
01:32The average waiting time for public housing in Hong Kong stands at almost six years.
01:37It's also consistently ranked as the most expensive place to buy or rent a home in the world.
01:43Most people struggle to afford it.
01:46The redevelopment plan here is projected to provide nearly 9,000 public housing units.
01:51People living here say there is a strong sense of community in squatter settlements like Tsar Kuo Ling
01:57and that'll be difficult to replace when they have to move.
02:00But they do also admit that living conditions are sometimes far from ideal.
02:05Hygiene is a problem and there are serious fire risks.
02:09It's also unsafe during major storms.
02:12Still, those moving out of here, like Ava's sister Elaine, are unsettled about the future.
02:18She qualifies for public housing and will be rehoused,
02:21but others exceeding an income limit will need to find homes elsewhere.
02:27It will be isolated.
02:29And of course, it will be as small as a bean curd pot, not like here.
02:35The demolition of Tsar Kuo Ling is the end of the road
02:38The demolition of Tsar Kuo Ling is the end of the road
02:41for a settlement that's witnessed Hong Kong's transformation
02:44from a fishing village to a global financial hub.
02:47Squatters provided cheap labour to support it in its heyday as a manufacturing economy.
03:01For many people, it inevitably feels like a piece of the fabric of Hong Kong will be lost forever.
03:08For many people, it inevitably feels like a piece of the fabric of Hong Kong will be lost forever.