This month marks the 20th anniversary of its demolition.
Sounds to me like it did not work.
It did work, read the diagram. Just because they decided to do something else with it doesn't mean it didn't "work" it was a completely functioning city of anarchy.
You sound like a mother doting over her mutant child. From the photos it was clearly a disgusting slum yet you're totally like "it was WORKING!"
WTF dude? Snap out of it. No running water or other basic amenities by the sounds of it. Combine that with all the other horrible shit that can be guessed at a glance:
-overcrowded buildings + not enough sunlight = endemic mould and lung problems
-heat escapes at night due to non-existent building standards = many deaths from hypothermia, fire outbreaks and/or CO poisoning...
-no space to bury the dead.
We do know that our modern ideas of taxation based on consent, individual freedom and so on evolved between the War of the Roses and the English Civil War.
Now I think you're using a funny definition of "consent." By definition, taxation applies even to those who do
not consent, else it wouldn't be taxation.
Taxation is: making tyrants such as yourself pay your dues, even though everyone knows you'll be kicking and screaming against being "brutally forced" against your will.
A mother should dote a bit, don't you agree?
What caused this to happen, for this bastard mutant community to exist? The state set up the parameters.
Running water, an amenity as it can fairly be called isnt as basic as it might seem. When a state takes control of a resource, people lose.
The state presuming to insist on mandatory taxes sets people up to fend for themselves or suffer, most often both.
To survive at all outside that paradigm while still being crowded by it and under its thumb is a proof of concept, albeit a sloppy one.