After surviving Japanese occupation during World War II, Hong Kong became by one reckoning the fastest-growing city in the world over the past 30 years. The place looks like a termite colony. For political, fiscal and environmental reasons, the government releases land for development very slowly, which sends property prices sky high. Another factor is that adequate sites for construction are limited by the territory's hilly terrain. Much of the Hong Kong waterfront is land reclaimed from the sea, but reclamation can't keep up with population.
Developers have no choice but to build to the sky, buttressed by the omnipresent bamboo scaffolding.
A casual stroll down almost any promenade presents many arresting sensory experiences. So it seems. A few years back, one out of every eight private vehicles on Hong Kong roads was a Mercedes-Benz. You almost have to be well-off to drive at all. You are not far off.