Vertigo-Inducing Photos of Hong Kong Housing Show Just How Dense It Is

<a href="http://inhabitat.com/exhibit-on-the-micro-apartments-of-hong-kong-exposes-human-rights-issues/" target="_blank">Hong Kong</a> is filled to the brim with over 7 million people, and with land at a premium, the city builds up, not out. Residential towers are stacked tightly together often reaching 30-stories or more. At its peak, residential density tops out at <a href="http://geographics.blogs.casa.ucl.ac.uk/2012/12/12/world-city-living-and-working-densities-poles-apart/" target="_blank">110,100 people per square kilometer</a> (compared to 59,150 in New York and 27,100 in London) The result is a vertigo-inducing geometric vista of lines, windows, balconies, bamboo scaffolding and hanging laundry. German photographer <a href="http://photomichaelwolf.com/#architecture-of-densitiy/20" target="_blank">Michael Wolf</a> captures the dizzying array in his latest series of photographs and book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Wolf-Architecture-Density-Outside/dp/3941825054/" target="_blank">Architecture of Density</a>.

Living in Hong Kong, your view is likely not of the ocean, a forest, or even mountains.

It's likely of the building across the street with a direct line of site into another family's living room.

Packed so close, Hong Kong's views are of architecture.

But from that close, you can't even appreciate the entire building, just a small snippet.

Award-winning photographer <a href="http://photomichaelwolf.com/#about-michael-wolf" target="_blank">Michael Wolf</a>, originally born in Munich but now living in Hong Kong, set out to capture the views from residences.

His resulting image set and book, <a href="http://photomichaelwolf.com/#architecture-of-densitiy/" target="_blank">Architecture of Density</a>, reveals an abstract sort of geometry, like a gritty, urban <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian" target="_blank">Mondrian</a> painting.

Hong Kong is the densest city in the world. At its peak there are at least <a href="http://geographics.blogs.casa.ucl.ac.uk/2012/12/12/world-city-living-and-working-densities-poles-apart/" target="_blank">110,100 people per square km</a>, although some reports say it could be upwards of <a href="http://lsecities.net/media/objects/articles/high-density-living-in-hong-kong" target="_blank">400,000</a>.

That's pretty tight, but it's also really efficient, because most of these people work very close to where they live. New York and London, which are also dense, have a bit more separation between where people live and work, which increases commute times.

If you want to know more, there's a ton of fascinating articles about <a href="http://lsecities.net/publications/conference-newspapers/hong-kong/" target="_blank">density, living and health in Hong Kong</a> from a <a href="http://lsecities.net/" target="_blank">LSE Cities</a>, recent conference newspaper published in 2011.