Kowloon 2090

Kowloon 2090, originally uploaded by Matthew Watkins.

This is the final illustration I did for a tutorial in DigitalArtist number 34. It was done in procreate on my iPad. It was inspired by my recent discovery of the incredible story of Kowloon Walled City in the no man's land between Hong Kong and China. The crowded city grew randomly inside the walls of an ancient fort. Though it was autonomously governed by triads, and the economy was ostensibly based on drugs and prostitution, it is said that the occupants lived mostly in harmony. Incredible given that Inside the walls 6 acres the population swelled to almost 40,000 inhabitants. In 1993 the Chinese evicted the occupants and demolished it to make a park in 1994.

I started to think of Kowloon Walled City as a "proof of concept" for the future and got to wondering how many Kowloons the future will hold for us, however technological we become. But of course, Ridley Scott got there well before me, Kowloon Walled City Was an inspiration for the film Bladerunner.

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#Kowloon
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