Hong Kong has a problem. With its population growing steadily, it doesn't have enough space to house the 7.2 million people in its 31 square miles.
But where the government sees a major issue, realtors see dollars. Because of demand, they can charge high rents for tiny spaces, charging up to HK$90, or $11.60 USD, per square foot.
And the spaces are getting smaller. People are living in apartments stacked with wooden boxes, known as "coffin houses," and sleeping in cages about the size of rabbit hutches.
The photos of these spaces are extreme and expose the harsh realities of a city with the highest levels of inequality in the developed world.
(Captions by Reuters and Christian Storm)
Because of China's massive population, there is a shortage of housing. Because of demand, realtors can charge astronomical prices for minuscule spaces, like the 80-square-foot apartment of Michelle Wong, a single mother, which she rents for $387.
Li Rong, 37, sits on a bed in her 35-square-foot subdivided apartment, with just enough room for a bunk bed and small TV, on the fifth floor of an old industrial building in Hong Kong. Li and people like her live in some of the priciest real estate per square foot in the world.
Most of these apartments are subdivided, meaning one unit intended for single occupants has been instead divided into multiple living spaces and rented individually.
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