Grenfell in London, where the worst fire was, was subsidised housing, clad on the cheap with flammable components. There has been big outlay in getting similar towers reclad safely (with tenants moved elsewhere in the interim.)
housing has a huge range of forms – so away from the City of London (financial district) towers exist but literally stick out in their neighbourhoods
I noted that recently when going down a rabbit hole of Hong Kong’s most expensive homes (side-tracked from pending holiday plans). Noted this when doing a streetview of the most expensive home sold there.
Does anyone here remember the “Forbidden City” (Kowloon Walled City) in HK?
It had a staggering population density equivalent to 1.2 million per square km, with buildings separated by alleyways so narrow you could reach out your arms and touch the buildings on each side. It was run by the Triads, was pretty much a no-go for police and was known as the place to buy any kind of drugs or contraband. It was a lot like Brazil’s favelas, only worse.
I visited in May 1993, about the same time they began the process of demolishing it. My driver begged my not to go inside. My second thought (after “I wonder how long it will take me to get knifed”) was “Imagine what would happen if a fire broke out here”. I thought about that immediately after I heard about the apartment fire. It’s mostly open parkland now.
I biked by again this morning. Just eyeballing it, the bamboo burned less than a lot of the other parts of the building. A ton of the scaffolding was still intact, even when the building itself was burned out.
it wasn’t the bamboo, that has been used for decades. it’s all the plastic shit around/on top of it.
Thanks for the report from the ground, and the great pics. It adds some great perspective that we have an ST member there.
What kind of drugs were you buying?
No problem. (Was going to write “my pleasure” but that’s…. not quite it).
