Hong Kong’s poor and destitute have long been unable to afford anything but subdivided living spaces. Now Beijing wants the local government to rid the city of these tiny units and “cage homes” by 2049. John Lee Ka Chiu, who will be sworn in as the city’s next leader on the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule.
The long waiting time for public rental flats means the city’s poorest families end up in tiny, shared ‘coffin homes’. More than 220,000 live in Hong Kong’s worst housing, mainly in Kowloon and the New Territories.