Initially built as a Chinese military fort, it quickly became a foundation for a rapidly expanding urban settlement. Except for Kowloon Walled-City, the rest of Hong-Kong’s territories were leased to Britain in 1898 and the enclave became isolated and hard to govern for China. With a measly 700 inhabitants in 1898, the population grew sizably after the Japanese occupation was put to an end during World War 1. The majority of the people in the city during this period came about from an influx of Chinese refugees fleeing the civil war in the country.
With both the Chinese and the British lacking initiative to govern the precinct, hundreds of people poured in to the lawless city to build a room for themselves wherever they could find space.