Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Friday, March 17, 2017 photo, Li Suet-wen and her son, 6, and daughter, 8, live in a 120-square foot room crammed with a bunk bed, small couch, fridge, washing machine and small table in an aging walkup in Hong Kong as she pays HK$4,500 ($580) a month in rent and utilities. That's nearly half the HK$10,000 ($1,290) she earns at a bakery decorating cakes. They're among an estimated 200,000 people in the former British colony living in "subdivided units." That's 18 percent more than four years ago and includes 35,500 children 15 and under, government figures show.
Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Thursday, March 28, 2017 photo, Cheung Chi-fong, 80, sleeps in his tiny "coffin home" where he cannot stretch out his legs in Hong Kong. In wealthy Hong Kong, there's a dark side to a housing boom, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to live in partitioned shoebox apartments, "coffin homes" and other "inadequate housing.- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Thursday, March 28, 2017 photo, residents who only gave their surname Yeung, left and Lui, take rest in their "coffin homes" in Hong Kong. In wealthy Hong Kong, there's a dark side to a housing boom, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to live in partitioned shoebox apartments, "coffin homes" and other "inadequate housing.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Thursday, May 4, 2017 photo, Kitty Au plays with her hamster in her "coffin home" in Hong Kong. In wealthy Hong Kong, there's a dark side to a housing boom, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to live in partitioned shoebox apartments, "coffin homes" and other "inadequate housing.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Thursday, March 28, 2017 photo, Wong Tat-ming, 63, sits in his "coffin home" which is next to a set of grimy toilets in Hong Kong as he pays HK$2,400 ($310) a month for a compartment measuring three feet by six feet. It's crammed with all his meager possessions, including a sleeping bag, small color TV and electric fan.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Thursday, March 28, 2017 photo, Tse Chu, a retired waiter, sleeps in his "coffin home" in Hong Kong. In wealthy Hong Kong, there's a dark side to a housing boom, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to live in partitioned shoebox apartments, "coffin homes" and other "inadequate housing.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Thursday, April 20, 2017 photo, a five year-old boy plays outside his tiny home which is made of concrete and corrugated metal on the terrace of a apartment block as he lives with his parents in an illegal rooftop hut where is located next to a public housing estate at the background in Hong Kong.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Thursday, March 28, 2017 photo, Wong Tat-ming, 63, sits in his "coffin home" where is crammed with all his meager possessions, including a sleeping bag, small color TV and electric fan. He and another elderly resident complain to a visiting social worker about bedbugs and cockroaches.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Thursday, March 28, 2017 photo, a resident who only gave his surname Lui, has dinner in his "coffin home" in Hong Kong. In wealthy Hong Kong, there's a dark side to a housing boom, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to live in partitioned shoebox apartments, "coffin homes" and other "inadequate housing.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Saturday, May 6, 2017 photo, a resident walks outside his illegal rooftop hut where is located next to a public housing estate, at the background, in Hong Kong. In wealthy Hong Kong, there's a dark side to a housing boom, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to live in partitioned shoebox apartments, "coffin homes" and other "inadequate housing.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Thursday, May 4, 2017 photo, a resident who only gave his surname Sin, 55, tidies up the bed in his "coffin home" in Hong Kong. In wealthy Hong Kong, there's a dark side to a housing boom, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to live in partitioned shoebox apartments, "coffin homes" and other "inadequate housing.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Saturday, May 6, 2017 photo, an illegal rooftop hut is seen in Hong Kong. There's a dark side to the property boom in wealthy Hong Kong, where hundreds of thousands of people priced out of the market must live in partitioned apartments, "coffin homes" and other inadequate housing. As a new leader for the territory prepares to take office, housing unaffordability remains one of the Asian financial center's biggest social problems.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressThis May 6, 2017 photo shows a general view of residential and commercial buildings in Yau Tsim Mong District where is a popular location for the "subdivided units" in Hong Kong. There's a dark side to the property boom in wealthy Hong Kong, where hundreds of thousands of people priced out of the market must live in partitioned apartments, "coffin homes" and other inadequate housing. As a new leader for the territory prepares to take office, housing unaffordability remains one of the Asian financial center's biggest social problems.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Tuesday, April 25, 2017 photo, a man walks in front of a residential and commercial building, center, where the "coffin home" are located in Hong Kong. In wealthy Hong Kong, there's a dark side to a housing boom, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to live in partitioned shoebox apartments, "coffin homes" and other "inadequate housing.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Friday, March 17, 2017 photo, Li Suet-wen and her son, 6, and daughter, 8, live in a 120-square foot room crammed with a bunk bed, small couch, fridge, washing machine and small table in an aging walkup in Hong Kong as she pays HK$4,500 ($580) a month in rent and utilities. That's nearly half the HK$10,000 ($1,290) she earns at a bakery decorating cakes.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Thursday, May 4, 2017 photo, Hong Kong residents, who only gave their surname, Lam, top left, Wan, top right, and Kitty Au, pose at their "coffin homes" in Hong Kong. In wealthy Hong Kong, there's a dark side to a housing boom, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to live in partitioned shoebox apartments, "coffin homes" and other "inadequate housing.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Thursday, March 28, 2017 photo, a resident who only gave his surname Yeung, takes rest in his "coffin home" in Hong Kong. In wealthy Hong Kong, there's a dark side to a housing boom, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to live in partitioned shoebox apartments, "coffin homes" and other "inadequate housing.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Tuesday, April 25, 2017 photo, a bus drives past a residential and commercial building where the "coffin homes" are located in Hong Kong. There's a dark side to the property boom in wealthy Hong Kong, where hundreds of thousands of people priced out of the market must live in partitioned apartments, "coffin homes" and other inadequate housing. As a new leader for the territory prepares to take office, housing unaffordability remains one of the Asian financial center's biggest social problems.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Thursday, May 4, 2017 photo, Simon Wong, an unemployed man, watches TV in his "coffin home" in Hong Kong. In wealthy Hong Kong, there's a dark side to a housing boom, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to live in partitioned shoebox apartments, "coffin homes" and other "inadequate housing.
- Kin Cheung, The Associated PressIn this Thursday, March 28, 2017 photo, a set of grimy toilets and single sink shared by the coffin home's two dozen inhabitants, including a few single women, is located at a flat in Hong Kong. In wealthy Hong Kong, there's a dark side to a housing boom, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to live in partitioned shoebox apartments, "coffin homes" and other "inadequate housing.
Kin Cheung, The Associated Press
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In this Friday, March 17, 2017 photo, Li Suet-wen and her son, 6, and daughter, 8, live in a 120-square foot room crammed with a bunk bed, small couch, fridge, washing machine and small table in an aging walkup in Hong Kong as she pays HK$4,500 ($580) a month in rent and utilities. That's nearly half the HK$10,000 ($1,290) she earns at a bakery decorating cakes. They're among an estimated 200,000 people in the former British colony living in "subdivided units." That's 18 percent more than four years ago and includes 35,500 children 15 and under, government figures show.
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By Glen Barber | The Denver Post
PUBLISHED:
Getting your player ready...
HONG KONG — Some 200,000 of Hong Kong’s 7.3 million residents live in “subdivided units.” Thatap up 18 percent from four years ago and includes 35,500 children 15 and under, government figures show. The figure doesn’t include many thousands more living in other “inadequate housing” such as rooftop shacks, metal cages resembling rabbit hutches and “coffin homes” made of stacked wooden bunks.