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People In This Online Group Shared 30 Pics Of Urban Hell That Don’t Look Real But Sadly Are (New Pics)
The same way some buildings can leave people in awe because of how impressive they are, others can shock them for all the wrong reasons. Poor planning, terrible choice of materials, or lack of windows – these are just a few features of what can really ruin an edifice, which might end up being ‘showcased’ on the ‘Urban Hell’ subreddit.
Today, that is what we’re focusing on – some of the worst examples of architecture, as shared by members of the ‘Urban Hell’ community. Scroll down to find pictures of some of the most “hideous places human beings built or inhabit”, as the community presents the content itself, and upvote the ones that resemble urban hell to you the most.
Below you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with Danish Kurani, a designer and the founder of the Kurani architecture firm, who was kind enough to discuss what are some of the most important things to consider before constructing a building (so it doesn’t end up on the subreddit).
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Detroit In 1882 And 2017
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 1 year ago
Those old houses were abandoned and it was pretty common for them to catch fire on devil's night. That whole thing in The Crow. That was real.
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Michelle-Randy Carlson 1 year ago
Detroit is having a resurgence. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/taking-back-detroit/see-detroit.html
similarly 1 year ago
The things is, a LOT of old houses and buildings and vacant lots are bought up by investment firms who sit on it to create artificial demand and drive up housing prices, not unlike how diamond companies hoard diamonds. This is just the next game for them after the Sub-Prime Mortgage scandal (which is also still going strong, but with different vocabulary).
Mike F 1 year ago
There are still areas that are breathtaking. Drive through the Boston-Edison neighborhood and it will blow your mind with the opulence. But the whole "Detroit problem" is really complicated and a perfect example of bad political decision making and horrible rhetoric. Couple that with the extraordinarily bad decision making on the part of the auto manufacturers and you have a recipe for the virtual extermination of a city. It's a damned shame. Now a revitalization is on the horizon and there's a bunch of flapping wings over the neighborhoods. I challenge you to get out of your car in those precious neighborhoods, at night, and walk a mile. I lived there for many years, I know what I'm talking about.
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RELATED:
#2
One Of My Favorite Pictures Of Macau. Hotel Grand Lisboa In The Background
Remi (He/Him) 1 year ago
The hotel is shaped like a leaf 🍁 or a flower 🌹 except with a wider "stem" what you're seeing on the pic is the left edge
Nathan Shipman 1 year ago
Why does Hotel Grand LIsboa look like it is swirled and leaning like Mount Crumpet in "The Grinch"?
Shelly Graham 1 year ago
It kinda reminds me of a scene from Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica; where a ginormous space ship begins emerging from behind a planet!
#3
The Ponds, A Suburb In Sydney. Packed In Like Sardines
similarly 1 year ago
I live in Japan too. Recently, several houses in my neighborhood were sold and the houses torn down. The lots previously held one house each, but the developers put two houses on two of the lots and THREE houses on a third. On one of the three houses, their balcony is completely blocked from any view by the other two houses, which are less than 2 meters away.
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Robert Millar 1 year ago
Imagine, in a country that has a continent's worth of space, that a developer is allowed to overexploit a small area like this.
Chyppa Homer 1 year ago
Imagine going home drunk in that neighborhood. You'll visit 17 neighbors, before you find your house :D
Stephen Gross 1 year ago
The density is not the issue here; it's the monotony. If each home were personalized, it would appear much more appealing.
keyboardtek 1 year ago
Well it is like apartment living but at least you do not actually share a wall with your neighbor. And it looks like the back yards are community shared, which could make it easy to make friends. And solar panels are allowed.
Graham_Illegal 1 year ago
Apartment living typically involves a mixed-use zone with access to parks, public transportation, and other amenities, whereas this area appears to be a car-dependent, residential-only neighborhood.
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LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago (edited)
Little boxes on the hillside. Little boxes made of ticky tacky. Little boxes on the hillside. Little boxes all the same.
There is an abundance of features—or lack thereof—that can make a building or an entire area terrible to live in or even to look at. So, it’s no surprise that pictures of such eye-sore-like buildings often end up on the ‘Urban Hell’ subreddit, which, as of now, has roughly 1.3 million members.
According to its description, it’s a subreddit, dedicated, as mentioned before, to all the hideous places human beings built or inhabit, which encourages people to come there for aesthetic appreciation of the darker side of cities, towns, and villages in our world. “We welcome any photos which show either ugliness, or a problem in urban development. Rural and suburban hell are also allowed,” it reads.
#4
Chongqing, China
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
google this town, it just did. Its interesting and not as harsh as on this picture.
Penguin Panda Pop 1 year ago
'Town' is a fun way to describe a place with over 30 million inhabitants :) (This comment is a lighthearted reply, I'm sorry if anyone reads it as more confrontational than intended).
Load More Replies... Remi (He/Him) 1 year ago
Chongqing would actually be really interesting to visit. It varies a lot from this from place to place and there's some interesting architecture. Plus the Sichuan cuisine rocks
Stephen Gross 1 year ago
High level of pedestrian friendliness, lots of small businesses at ground and 1st levels, intermodal transportation! It's a great urban space! (It's just very monochromatic)
#5
Hong Kong's Incredibly Dense And Soulless Buildings
Weasel Wise 1 year ago
I spent a few weeks living in one of these "apartments" in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong and can attest to how awful it would be to live in one of these full time. They're approximately 2.5msq, just enough room for a small bed and tiny fridge cuz the rest of the space is taken up by the bathroom, which is a toilet, shower, sink combo behind a sliding glass door. I didn't bother counting how many apartments were on my floor cuz I was busy squeezing through the narrow hallways filled with dressers and storage tubs owned by other residents since there's no space inside. Luckily, Hong Kong was hot and muggy in January, during my visit. So, I can only imagine how "lovely" these spaces are in the summer. 😬
Marilyn Holt 1 year ago
OF course Hong Kong is an island, so there's no where to go but up. You should see the cemetaries. You have to rent a space for a few years and then it's not yours any more.
Julia Nolan 1 year ago
Yeah. Also, you're not really supposed to stay in your tiny apartment. I lived there for a year and loved it as I was out doing stuff almost every night. Being trapped in an apartment sucks, but most people use it mainly for sleeping. The rest of the time you're somewhere else (at a library, a restaurant, mall, bar, hiking, etc.) Which I found kind of fun, in its own weird way. Almost like every day was a party.
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In order not to create something atrocious-looking, uninhabitable, or even dangerous, the people responsible for the edifices have to think long and hard about an abundance of details.
Discussing such details, architect Danish Kurani, pointed out that the purpose and functionality of the building are two of the most important things that have to be well thought-through before the construction starts. “Determine the purpose of the building and who it will serve and focus on solving real problems, prioritizing solutions over style,” he suggested in an interview with Bored Panda.
#6
Jalousie Neighborhood In Port-Au-Prince, Haiti
Suck it Trebek 1 year ago
It looks like a huge garbage heap. I can't believe people have to live like this.
Ece Cenker 1 year ago
This kind of organic settlement is way better than the concrete hells we see in other pictures. The problem here is poverty and lack of healthy infrastructure.
cerinamroth 1 year ago
To which they might rightly say "Take it yourself". The rich people are the ones responsible for polluting the planet. The poor use just a fraction of the resources of wealthy countries.
Load More Replies... #7
Planned Towns Built For Forcibly Relocated Tibetan Families In Markham, Tibet By The CCP
Jrog 1 year ago (edited)
This is designed and enacted as part of a multi decade plan to kill Tibetan culture by China in what has been defined "cultural genocide" by many international organizations. China enforces strict CCTV surveillance and routinely tracks movements of Tibetan citizens and Chinese citizens that are "sympathizing" for the cause. Tibetans are often subject to police stop-and-search, random acts of violence and suppression of protests. China kidnapped and likely executed the rightful Tibetan religious leader -a 15 years old kid- and his family, replacing him with a stooge. Chinese government enforces inhuman restrictions on families whose members choose to keep their traditional religious practice and studies, up to taking their kids away and imprisoning accused people without trial. They forbid traditional nomadic practices, forcing resettling in dry places and causing famines, prohibited traditional festivities and replaced the Tibetan language with Chinese in official documents.
Slapdash1 1 year ago
China will easily surpass the USSR and Nazi Germany in its atrocities (if it hasn't already) but no one really cares because it's soooo much cheaper to make sneakers and tshirts there. And then it will be too late.
Ole Peder Amrud Hagen 1 year ago
Yeah, imagine if the Third Reich made cheap consumer electronics... would still be there.
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Freya the Wanderer 1 year ago
China is not evil, and the Chinese people are not evil. The CCP is what's evil. You are right.
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Freya the Wanderer 1 year ago
If this upsets you, support the International Campaign For Tibet. https://savetibet.org
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Montanavanna 1 year ago
This way of life is against everything these people believe to be the right way to live. Why are they being removed from their lands? Probably so they can be commodified and sold to make a handful of people rich. This makes me angry!
Jrog 1 year ago
Much worse, it's not even greed it's pure EVIL. China annexed Tibet -that is still to this day formally a free state- in 1950, against any international rights convention. Since then, they are trying to delete the Tibetan culture in order to complete the land grab. It's not even a rich land, it's just plain imperialism.
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Hong Kong Apartments
Glen Ellyn 1 year ago
This is always my first thought when I see buildings like this. I can't forget the Grenfell Tower horror, its victims and their families are always on my mind.
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Zara VP 1 year ago
I would be terrified to live in a building like that. I would be constantly afraid of building collapse.
2x4b523p 1 year ago
They are built to whitstand frequent typhoons and occasional earthquake (rare in HK). Most people in HK have no choice but to live in high riser and these flats are still more expensive than most flats worldwide. What I find mad is the higher floors cost more than lower floors.
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Karizma Kaliko 1 year ago
Imagine getting home on the 34th floor and realizing you like forgot the milk.....
The Phantom Stranger 1 year ago
I started writing a science fiction story recently in which Hong Kong was going to be one of the settings. Only when I started doing some actual research, I discovered that the population density in that city was already greater than what I had planned to make it 600 years in the future.
“Design the building with the ability to accommodate change,” Kurani continued, emphasizing the importance of adaptability. “Natural elements [are important, too]: understand the impact of natural factors such as light, air quality, and temperature on the building and its occupants.
“Local context: source materials and construction approaches locally to minimize environmental impact and preserve the unique characteristics of the area. Emotional experience: design the building to evoke positive emotions and create a sense of well-being.”
#9
I’m In Chongqing At The Moment…
keyboardtek 1 year ago
28 years ago we went to China to adopt our daughter. We saw huge decaying apartment buildings everywhere. The streets were jammed with humans. No wonder COVID spread so fast there.
#10
Cairo, Egypt
Spencer's slave no longer 1 year ago
They didn't knock down the pyramids or other ancient artifacts to build a city for people. Pollution covers many huge cities around the world.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 1 year ago
Yeh if the camera was pointed the other way it might see some Pyramids. This is looking out toward the Nile Delta.
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#11
The City Of Belem Is Tearing Down A Forest Park To Build A Highway For The United Nations Climate Change Conference
ByeFelicia 1 year ago
And then they'll all arrive on their private jets and tell us that cow farts are killing the planet so we need to eat bugs.
Austin L 1 year ago
Bugs might be in our future as a source of protein but the cow thing is real because we're feeding them an unnatural diet of grains and packing them into huge mega farms. There's satellites in low earth orbit that can measure the methane emissions from these giant farms. Does that not ring any alarms to you? To be fair, I also think jets are part of the problem.
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Ole Peder Amrud Hagen 1 year ago
Horrible! Belém is a beautiful city, and the Amazon such a magical place. This is 'growth for progress' at its worst.
Adam Jeff 1 year ago
I presume from the caption that they're going to tear it down again after the conference. I mean it couldn't possibly be that they were thinking of building a highway anyway, right? No, they're definitely just building it for a 2 week conference.
Ole Peder Amrud Hagen 1 year ago
It's an over-simplification, of course, but the proponents are using COP30 as an argument for this project.
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Another factor that shouldn’t be overlooked, according to the founder of the architecture firm, is the holistic perspective, which entails considering the overall impact of the building on its surroundings and the broader community. It’s also crucial to take into account the context and environment in which the building will be located.
#12
China
Glix Drap 1 year ago
When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England.
Load More Replies... George Costanza 1 year ago
To be fair this is far more efficient use of land for housing than having everyone live on 1+ acres separately, which is a nightmare for the environment and nature.
Jrog 1 year ago (edited)
Kind of true, but you need infrastructures and services to support that many people. Schools, stores, public transport etc. Most of these tower blocks are speculations by private companies, that build a lot of apartments and neglect the rest because the way their sales are structured most of those apartments will be bought as investment anyway and there will be little demand for service spaces because no one will live there. The results are huge tower blocks with few people living in, lacking basic facilities, and those people being scammed out of their savings by companies who built those towers on the (extremely) cheap.
Load More Replies... Uncle Schmickle 1 year ago
Builder : " how many kilometres of apartments would you like built ?"
Jrog 1 year ago
Most of those sit unsold for decade. Most of the sold ones are bought as a (bad) investment and are not actually used. Most of those real estate projects ultimately fail -to massive losses for the buyers- because they fail to reach a minimum threshold of occupation and the upkeep cost become way too high leading to neglect.. Those buildings often have critical structural issues that in some cases required full tear-downs.
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Mumbai, India
René Sauer 1 year ago (edited)
Sad that we have to point out jokes like that, huh?
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Edith 1 year ago (edited)
I understand they are poor.. but I can't understand all this garbage.. (I know it's a complex problem from government level to each person's mind.. but it's still beyond me)
Ryan Mercer 1 year ago (edited)
It lacks what George Bush used to call an 'ownership society.' These people are so abjectly poor, they know nothing of value will ever belong to them. So why care about things like property condition, environment, or appearances? The moment one person puts in the effort, it will be undone by everyone else. Who has the time for that? Survival is all that matters.
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Full of Giggles 1 year ago
Seeing it person breaks your soul. My philanthropy work has taken me to some of the poorest regions of the world, but Mumbai is the only city that left an emotional scar.
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keyboardtek 1 year ago
I understand human poverty. But being poor does not mean one cannot clean ones environment!
Ece Cenker 1 year ago
When you are hungry all the time, and possibly sick, possibly with mental health issues, living among people with no education and no skills, and no jobs... their environment which they need to leave as soon as possible to survive ends up being the least of their worries.
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Spaghetti Junction In Kl, Malaysia
Shirley Heyn 1 year ago
Am I naive, or how does GPS know where you "are" as opposed to where you "asked" to go? Does it even work when you are on the underpasses . . .?
“Understand the needs and challenges,” Danish continued to emphasize. “Have a clear understanding of the needs and challenges of the target users and establish clear objectives for the building based on the needs and aspirations of the users.
“Prioritize functionality and usability," he added, expanding on the list and emphasizing that it’s crucial to design the building to be functional and user-friendly, as well as sustainable and environmentally friendly. “Build in a way that is environmentally friendly and minimizes waste.”
#15
A Street In Mansoura, Egypt, With All The Signs For Doctors’ Offices
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 1 year ago
This makes it easier to find a doctor there than here for me and I can't speak Arabic.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
you'll find A doctor but will you find the right one?? no need for a dentist when you're leg is hurting!
Load More Replies... cerinamroth 1 year ago
I love the non-uniform nature of developing countries. So much more vibrant and interesting than dull glass shop fronts of the same brands on every high street, in every city and in almost every country.
Ryan Mercer 1 year ago
Sucks if you're in a wheel chair. Sometimes it sucks even if you can walk.
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Max Robitzsch 1 year ago
"How could you not find my office? My sign is the red one up 27 signs from the street and 312 from the corner!"
#16
Main And Delaware Street, Kansas City
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
if you google map Main and Delaware KansasCity and spin around, you'll see this, but on the other side ALSO a full grown town. So i think this pic is b******t. I must say none of the buildings seem to be standing, but its not empty land.
Mike F 1 year ago
It's the perspective. Copy and paste it into Google maps and look at it. It's propaganda.
Load More Replies... Foxglove🇮🇪 1 year ago
How do we know this is the same spot? There's nothing left as a reference point
Jrog 1 year ago
MISLEADING on several ways. First, the orientation of the two photo is opposite, one looking to the city the other outward. Second, when the photo was taken the part that appears as "Main St" in the second photo was still Delaware Street, the junction in the photo was two blocks further south, about here https://maps.app.goo.gl/QrWFsRKN563MsGfN6. Third, the photo is taken on purpose facing a major highway, that replaced some of the old buildings when the city center shifted south.
Skara Brae 1 year ago
The landowners of those lots have no incentive to build anything. Like most of the empty space in US cities, it all comes down to costs to maintain an old building versus the financial benefits of alternatives. It takes a smart city and state government to figure out how to stimulate better development. 40+ years of tax cuts to get votes produced this outcome.
#17
Cape Town, South Africa. One Of The Richest Cities On The Continent
BrunoVI 1 year ago
Are those port-o-potties (portable toilets) for homes without plumbing? Does the government do that?
Valegro 1 year ago
yeah they are, i do believe the government supplies them if im not mistaken
Load More Replies... cerinamroth 1 year ago
What you can't see is that places like this often have solidarity and neighbourliness in spades. Yes, there is extreme poverty and where you have poverty there will be crime. But people often forget the life that exists in shanty towns that people in their cut-off little worlds will never experience.
UpupaEpops 1 year ago (edited)
I've been to Mamelodi. What surprised me is that even though people had so little, they took pride in it. The streets were cleaner ( ! ) than in the small town I was living in in the UK, and not a single rat was in sight. I had a meal at one of the places the locals could buy food at. As I have a chronic illness, I can be fussy about where I'm eating but that place was easily at chippy shop level in terms of cleanliness. To achieve this without electricity and running water is a testament to how much pride the lady who owned the place had in her business. It was delicious too!
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Victoria Remocaldo 1 year ago
Yeah those homes definitely do not look like rich people live there 🤦🏽♀️👎🏽😂
Guess Undheit 1 year ago
That is a shanty town, and that title plays up the racist stereotype of "Black people can't run advanced countries". There are scores of cities like Lagos and Nairobi across dozens of Africans countries as developed and modern as any in Europe.
Long-term maintenance and adaptability are no less important, Danish Kurani suggested. “Design the building with long-term maintenance and adaptability in mind and incorporate feedback loops into the design process.”
According to him, it’s also beneficial to use data and knowledge from past projects and experts in related fields, so the person responsible can incorporate evidence-based design.
#18
Mumbai, India
LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago
This is just heart-breaking. That entire "river" is filled with garbage.
LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago
You do know that some of the places on this list are amongst the poorest in the world and have access to limited infrastructure?
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Naimesh Patel 1 year ago
The real beauty (fact) is that Mumbai is the Financial Capital of India, since decades.
cerinamroth 1 year ago
Having witnessed the restoration of the Pasig River in Manila, there could still be a river here one day. Soon, I hope.
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Uncle Schmickle 1 year ago
There are so many millions of people in India, why doesn't the Government employ some of them to clean up the place ? No wonder there's every disease known to medical science there.
#19
Everything Wrong With American Cities, In One City Block
Jessica Bertram 1 year ago (edited)
For those not in the US, those blue things around that block are unhoused (homeless) tent encampments. I think this is Phoenix
cerinamroth 1 year ago
Good god, I wouldn't want to be homeless in Phoenix with the temperatures they get there. I hope more compassionate people are in charge soon who will help them (and all of us - by not being stinkin big climate change deniers).
Load More Replies... Skara Brae 1 year ago
The reddit thread explans that this lot will be built out as an elections center next year. I'm guessing they are waiting for funding to complete.
Wendy Herman 1 year ago
Why don't we use our dying malls to humanely house those w/o a home? Every city now has *at least* one, thanks to Walmart & Amazon. Some (supposedly) "Christian nation" we are, completely *devoid* of Christ's noted compassion for humanity. No wonder He's NOT returned. Can't blame Him at all.
JoMeBee 1 year ago
This is not as jarring to me is the photos of China and India! I can't imagine that many people crammed into such small spaces let alone the infrastructure needed to sustain them...
Load More Replies... Guess Undheit 1 year ago
Tens of millions of acres are wasted on "parking" when a single efficient building could affordably (and "profitably", as if that were important) house thousands who don't own enough to fill a suitcase. "Minimum parking" idiocy needs to die.
LittleTeapot 1 year ago
It can’t die until public transport options are improved. Or you’ll kill everything near that minimum parking, too.
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#20
Temirtau, Kazakhstan
In addition to thinking long and hard about the subtleties behind each and every building, as discussed by Danish Kurani, it’s also important for architecture firms to look at the bigger picture and evaluate their goals, too. According to data from 2021, close to 13% out of 89 surveyed firms admitted falling short on many goals. While it’s unclear if that is what leads to certain far-from-applaudable examples of architecture, it is arguably unlikely to make the cities look any better either.
#21
A Street In Egypt Before And After Renovation
Certainly not Dan 1 year ago
Now though traffic can get from one traffic jam to the next ever so slightly quicker. Honestly, cars are the worse things for a city.
Shirley Heyn 1 year ago (edited)
And that is why city planners make the big bucks. . .! Looks like they buried the wires at least. :-(
MacintoshID 1 year ago
Are we sure these photos aren't mis-labeled? Sad if this is the true nature of the area, which I do believe it is.
#22
Night In Tokyo, Japan 🇯🇵
cerinamroth 1 year ago
And some of the deliciousest sushi I've ever eaten in my life!
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Roan The Demon Kitty 1 year ago
what's crazy about Tokyo is that from above it seems like urban hell,a nd to an extent, it most certainly is, but what you don't see as much from above is that Tokyo has a surprising amount of green space. Not far from Ginza (pictured here) is the Hamarikyu Gardens, Imperial Palace park/gardens and Shiba Park, as well as a number of smaller parks.
Hey Kat 1 year ago (edited)
Soo true! and would probably frustrate the heck out of me!
Load More Replies... Ole Peder Amrud Hagen 1 year ago
This is awesome, and in no way an urban hell. This is a city!
The Phantom Stranger 1 year ago
Where is the giant holographic projection of naked Ana de Armas?
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#23
"Us Cities Were Built For Cars" (Downtown Cincinnati, 1890 vs. 2023)
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
again looked at google maps. There seems to be some highways looped around the city center, but they didnt replace it, what this pictures seem to tell. I cant see its a beautiful town but still a downtown and some cutesy streets and houses too.
BrunoVI 1 year ago
The context missing for most of these is that so many of America's major cities were hollowed out by crime and mismanagement. People fled for the suburbs. The highways made it easier, but there's a miserably stupid, hateful political line that the highways ruined the cities. That's b******t. I grew up on Long Island where the highways are woefully inadequate due simply to the shape of the land. People moved away from the cities and into 2-hour daily traffic jams. Yeah, they'd rather sit in their cars four hours a day than send their kids to the public schools despite the largest tax base in the entire planet.
Graham_Illegal 1 year ago
* — Wealthy people fled to the suburbs... and instead of addressing the city’s issues of "crime and mismanagement", funds were directed toward infrastructure that primarily benefited those who had the resources to move away. That’s how we ended up with an infrastructure that is an unsustainable money pit, even if you enjoy sitting in traffic for some weird ƃuᴉʞɔnɟ reason :)
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#24
Amazon Data Centers Under Construction Near Homes In Stone Ridge, Virginia
2x4b523p 1 year ago
We have been looking out into green fields for decades. The land owner got zoning approval for a solar farm and all the neighbours are rioting and signing petitions against it and I don’t understand why. I am ecstatic. Solar farm! No pollution, no traffic, no noise, no smells, no obstructed sunlight. We are so lucky. Could have been a pig farm, or a whole new quarter like other side of the town.
LAS 1 year ago
Maybe they can include on the listing that they always get their Amazon packages first thing?
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Elizabeth Everman 1 year ago
Those McMansions probably replaced something else even nicer. What comes around, goes around.
Douglas Tucker 1 year ago
I would try to grow a few fast growing Royal Empress trees in my backyard to help the environment and my view, if soil, water availability, etc. permits the trees to grow properly.
Ryan Mercer 1 year ago
Surely a data center is zoned for at least light industrial. The issue here isn't that data centers exist. This is a border between two different zoning types, with no buffer zone. Given the obvious value of the homes, they should have been able to push for a massive rock wall sound barrier, and made it contingent on Amazon paying for it. But honestly, the worst part must be the light pollution at night. Nightmare.
George Costanza 1 year ago
Glad to see it built near McMansions and not some poor underprivileged community.
#25
Azerbaijan Style Balcony
Nicole Weymann 1 year ago
"What could possibly go wrong?" (not even taking into account that there may be earthquakes)
Nadine Lynch 1 year ago
Exactly. Building codes may be a pain, but earthquake death tolls are much lower because of them.
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FoxEcoLimaIndiaCharlieIndiAlfa 1 year ago
All it would take is someone hitting the gas instead of the brake and crashing into the support beams, holding up that entire room. This should be illegal.
Naimesh Patel 1 year ago
Not just a balcony or room, at some places this is just a whole new house.
#26
Once The Pride Of India Now Left In Shambles , Kolkata West Bengal High Solid Waste And Air Pollution
Roan The Demon Kitty 1 year ago
well, India's very first Prida parade/walk was held in Kolkata, and it was also one of, if not the, first in south asia.. xP but as for why it was the "pride of india" a lot of the spice trade came from Kolkata if i remember correctly, it was named the cultural capital of India at one point, and there is a lot of history around art and culture of India there. It was also the capital of India during British occupation (boo to that) and it's revolutionary history regarding the Indian Independence Movement and the Naxalites, trade unions etc, then there is the social culture, such as the baboo culture. It's also the birthplace of the Bengal Renaissance, an awakening of more liberal thinking that spread across India.
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#27
This Is Just Plain Idiotic Urban Planning
LonelyLittleLeafSheep 1 year ago
🎶 Little boxes, little boxes, little boxes made of ticky-tacky...🎶
JessieJ&LilyLovebug 1 year ago
Reminds me of Temple Grandin's work discovering cows will follow a blind curve happily, but not a sharp turn...as they are led to slaughter.
Paulina 1 year ago
True. Even me - European living in a block of flats - think it's awful. I'd rather live in an apartment on fifth floor, having neighbors pretty much behind every wall, but have a greenery between buildings and public park nearby, than in those sprawling, copy-paste American suburbs.
LittleTeapot 1 year ago
The only reason this is terrible is that the houses don’t have integrated services in the planning. Nothing wrong with single family homes or the layout - it’s the separation of housing and services, connected by unwalkable major byways andno public transit. If this is why all the hate replies here, ok, but it seems like everyone is just hating to hate?? I’d rather live here than in those jammed high rises…vertical sprawl sucks worse without services and public space integration.
#28
Shades With No Seats vs. Seats With No Shades
Nicole Weymann 1 year ago
Plus an almost completely sealed-off ground. I'm none too fond of manicured golf lawns, but depression inducing grey concrete is definitely worse. It makes the surrounding place unneccessarily hot, too, and one heavy downpour will make flood the streets, because the water has no place to go.
Diolla 1 year ago
... But look! There's patches of grass in between to cach the rain! They thought of everything!
Load More Replies... #29
Faridabad, India Open Garbage Disposal Is Huge Problem Here, However No One Pay Attention To It
keyboardtek 1 year ago
When people are so brainwashed by their religious beliefs and the promise of happiness in an afterlife, that the quality of the here and now of real existence does not matter.
ZuriLovesYou 1 year ago
So it's just religious people who don't care? Sure, buddy.
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Dave Morris 1 year ago
Went to India a few years back. Streets were disgusting, and I think part of the reason they don't eat cows is that the cows eat this (literal) sh*t
ByeFelicia 1 year ago
Tell me again why everyone points at the USA for pollution problems? Explain it to me like I am 5 years old because this tells a completely different story. Why isn't Greta in places like this? Someone must know the reason.
Jrog 1 year ago
Because USA is *BY FAR* the worst polluter pro-capita. You have 1/5th the population of India, yet produce over twice the overall CO2 emissions.
Load More Replies... #30
Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Urban Car Centric Nightmare
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
It's probably good that they've lowered the road like this to reduce noise
Roan The Demon Kitty 1 year ago
iirc, whilst I have not and cannot visit makkah as a none muslim, iirc this is the ring road around the Masijd-al-Haram, so it's likely done to reduce noise for those praying in the Masijd or on the Hajj.
Ole Peder Amrud Hagen 1 year ago
This city is probably a nightmare in any sense. That horrible structure in the background required demolishing historic neighborhoods and monuments, just to make money for the Saud family.
Dean H 1 year ago
This one sole image is hardly representative of Makkah, its quite spectacular. Source: me, I've been there
Load More Replies... #31
Houston, TX (1970s)
Pyla 1 year ago
I read an article or saw an urbanist vid that talked about Houston. It's really got so little zoning protection it's the one place where it's easy to put in high density housing adjacent to suburbs. Usually this is fought tooth and nail in most cities with low rise housing.
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cerinamroth 1 year ago
They should at least have a law to cover all car parks with solar panels. Clean electricity, shade for the cars.
LonelyLittleLeafSheep 1 year ago
As an American, the fact that no one wants to build multi-level parking structures with green walls and solar roofs makes me so angry! It's an easy solution to the lack of parking in urban areas and increases available land space for parks, housing, etc. Single-level parking lots in dense urban areas should be illegal!
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Nicole Weymann 1 year ago (edited)
Real estate prices are WAY too low in the US (even if this has changed a bit since 1970). All of this land is wasted and sealed off. Totally dead. Even ignoring the possibility of public transport and how many cars could be eliminated by it: how is it that nobody came up with the idea of stacking the lots? One or two parking garages, possibly even underground, and you could do so much with the free space! Plant trees or bushes, build a park, maybe a playground or fifty. Even more skyscrapers! On top of that: this is Texas - any car you leave outside for more than ten minutes any time between May and October will punish the driver by welding their hands to the wheel and scorching shoulders with the seatbelt.
LonelyLittleLeafSheep 1 year ago
Agreed! Why not put green walls on a multi-level parking lot, and a nice green space on the top (like that old elevated train route in NY, I think)? Such a waste of space!
Load More Replies... Petra Schaap 1 year ago
where carparks have carparks O_O JFC. So you parked your car in the middle of f*****g nowhere, and then? Do all these people fit into that one building that seems to be on some of the parks?
Nicole Weymann 1 year ago
Bus? You mean public transport? You communist/socialist! /S
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#32
A Public School In Montreal, Canada. No Windows, Just A Big Block Of Concrete, Looking Like A Federal Prison
John Miller 1 year ago
Work is being done at this location, due to be complete in late 2024, to add windows and access to natural light.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
or.... are the windows on the other side of the building ?? like some houses dont have windows on the roadside? (well here in Belgium at least)
#33
Your Average Brazilian Sidewalk
Glix Drap 1 year ago
Obviously Brazil has no blind people - probably due to the fact they walk in the road and get run over.
Roan The Demon Kitty 1 year ago
can't imagine they have many wheelchair users, either.
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#34
Soviet High-Rise. Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
now this is brutalism. And its cute. I dont know what the living conditions are ofcourse. Usually buildings from this era are not build or maintained well.
Certainly not Dan 1 year ago
No objections to this. Maintenance problems not architecture. Look at the curves, articulation, balconies, and attention to aspect. So much better than a big shiny box
René Sauer 1 year ago
How is this so chaotic? Why do some stories have balconies or these weird protruding rooms, and some do not?
Ece Cenker 1 year ago
The building has a symmetry from this side. It's kind of cool actually, as you take a turn around the building it goes from symmetry to a random order to symmetry again. 82269348_1...950164.jpg 
#35
Oh The Hospital? Its On The Other Side Of The City. Only 105 Miles Away Through Dense Traffic
BrunoVI 1 year ago
(1) I'm 100% certain there would be more than 1 hospital. Probably many. (2) The linear design is intended to prevent traffic. (3) The Line is already mostly cancelled, and is now expected to be only 1.5 miles, less than 1% its planned size.
Jrog 1 year ago
"The linear design is intended to prevent traffic." is the most stupid take on urban planning I heard in my decade-long career of dealing with urban planners, and some of them were *really* dumb people.
Load More Replies... Tucker Cahooter 1 year ago
"Oh I haven't flushed a ball in years. You want the Nick's on the other side of town"
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
ah, i was wondering if this crazy thing would be on this list. There it is!
#36
Alexandra & Ainsworth Estate, Borough Of Camden, London, UK
Glix Drap 1 year ago
OK, not The Barbican (my comment on the last photo) but still as expensive as heck.
Load More Replies... Roan The Demon Kitty 1 year ago (edited)
And yet, if you want to live in one of these flats/apartments, there's literally a years and years long waiting list. apparently xD at least people are trying to make it green with plenty of plants!
Jrog 1 year ago (edited)
Yes, it's an interesting experiment in horizontal contained communities. There were a few in the 1970s, including this and Corviale in Rome. They were designed to solve many issues of the apartment towers, and to create local communities with all the services needed to families. Unfortunately, they failed to appeal to the great public and their prices steadily declined until they were mostly rented or bought by lower classes, bringing a new slew of issues. Criminality started to spread, along with degradation of services from lack of funding from the township (being diverted to places catering to richer crowds), and maintenance lagged behind.
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Ruthie R 1 year ago
I walked through there at night a couple of times, never been so glad to get to the other side of a place. I do wonder if the architects ever pause to think about the people who are going to live in the boxes they design, and if they'd want to live or pass through those areas themselves, though I suspect the archtects all live in nice old houses in the country.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
dudes not the Alexandra!! (also brutalist) As recognized by many for many tv and films. I visited two years ago, it was raining but still very nice. there are many tiny gardens and flowers on balconies.
Debby Keir 1 year ago
It was built as social housing in the 60's as an alternative to high rise blocks.
keyboardtek 1 year ago (edited)
A million dollar pressure washing job! I wonder if the insides are as moldy as the exterior.
#37
Phoenix, Arizona (2022)
#38
A Barely Standing Building In Damietta، Egypt
Ece Cenker 1 year ago
For a moment I thought it was being held up by...the traffic light pole.
#39
Egypt
ZuriLovesYou 1 year ago (edited)
It could use some trees. But other than that, I've seen worse.
Debby Keir 1 year ago
There's not a enough rainfall for greenery. A few palm trees - think desert.
Load More Replies... Petra Schaap 1 year ago
this is not that bad and most of all HELLOOOO thats a piramide in your street :-D
Roan The Demon Kitty 1 year ago
this isn't too bad really... I think it's because the pyramids are so close to the city, it tends to surprise people who aren't aware. xP
#40
20 Lane Highway In Cairo
Manny 1 year ago
Only a matter of time before the US starts to get that way. We are so over populated
Roan The Demon Kitty 1 year ago
a matter of time? it's already happened, I'm not even American but I've seen enough pictures. Especially places like Houston or LA. You could not even pay me to sit in traffic in the heat those cities get!
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Susan 1 year ago
What this picture doesn't show is that they don't necessarily stay within those lines. It's a free for all. Drivers don't use mirrors to see other cards behind them, mirrors are used as decorations all over the cars. They honk their horns constantly to let other drivers know they are near or passing. And at night they use all different colored lights all over their vehicles. It's beautifully colorful, loud, confusing madness on those highways at night!
Betsy Hilton 1 year ago
Was this not taken during rush hour, or what? Why do they need it this big?!
#41
We Waste So Much Land In America
ByeFelicia 1 year ago
would you prefer to be packed in like sardines shown above? No thanks. I'll take this any day.
Graham_Illegal 1 year ago
Do you think urban planning is an on/off switch between those two? Just because breaking my shin isn't as severe as breaking my collarbone, it doesn't make it a pleasant or desirable experience.
Load More Replies... BrunoVI 1 year ago
That's a lot of parking. It's Ballantyne, NC, an "exurb" of Charlotte. My guess is that that lot is full during business hours. Parts of North Carolina are ruefully referred to as South Jersey, because so many people who live there are fleeing more urban states like New Jersey. OP probably likes to say he's offering the workers "convenience" of high density with public transportation. They've had it. What he is really essentially demanding the surfs go back to the manor. If every man, woman and child had a parking space at home and at work, that would be 640 million parking spaces, or 8,000 square miles. That sounds shocking and horrible, but it's only 0.2% of our land.
Graham_Illegal 1 year ago
Since not "every man, woman, and child" can or even wants to drive, it would make a lot more sense to diversify transportation options. This would not only make driving easier, safer, faster and more enjoyable for those who love cars — like myself — but also avoid forcing everyone else to rely on them. Additionally, many people, such as the elderly, disabled, and children, lose their autonomy in a car-dependent environment. This lack of mobility is evident in children’s independence and critical thinking skills when compared to those in cities with multiple transportation options.
Load More Replies... #42
Thick Yellow Smog In Busan, Korea
keyboardtek 1 year ago
This is nothing. When we were in China, we awoke in the morning and could not see the building across the street through the smog.
#43
The New Capital CBD Project In Egypt, Built By The Chinese
David 1 year ago
CBDs are central business districts. Not tourism hotspots.
Load More Replies... Dumb teenager 1 year ago
China tried to build a whole new capital city in the solomon islands. The project was abandoned once people realised they were essentially colonising the place for money and rioted. A lot of the buildings they've built in Honiara (the real capital city) are blatant displays of wealth. The embassy there (I think it was the embassy, collosal black building with a giant chinease flag out the front) is bigger then most of the government buildings combined.
#44
Bangladesh's Parliament Building
#45
Seoul, South Korea
#46
"Beautiful" Berlin During Communist Times
Space Invader 1 year ago
In fairness, they probably had to erect a lot of buildings quickly after the war. In unfairness, it would probably still have looked this way if they hadn't.
Nicole Weymann 1 year ago
I hate the brutalist style - but it was not restricted to (Eastern) Europe. You'll find these architectural "gems" everywhere from Yakutsk to LA (if prevalent in the East).
Load More Replies... Nicole Weymann 1 year ago
It's not as if the west built their mass housing any more aesthetically pleasing. These "workers' lockboxes" look pretty similar to some neighbourhoods in other cities (East/West/North/South) that had to hurriedly come up with a way to produce shelter for their citizens after WW2. I think the only actual difference is that the West soon learned to heartily dislike them as "soulless" or whatever, while in the East they remained (sometimes to this day) to be viewed as top notch housing.
Auntriarch 1 year ago
It's been said that the 60s did more damage to English cities than the Luftwaffe
Load More Replies... Jrog 1 year ago (edited)
They are still there, and they are very sought after because are among the largest apartments in the city. Also, at the time of their construction they were modern, some even had air conditioning, and a lot of windows, a remarkable improvement over the few older surviving buildings. Soviets put a lot of money into turning east Berlin into a model city (regarding city planning, not living in general).
George Costanza 1 year ago
I don't know, doesn't look all that bad. A little soulless, but perfectly fine.
#47
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Marilyn Holt 1 year ago
In about ,1980 got off a plane in Riyadh. The temp was 50C. And the women wear black head to toe.
#48
Hong Kong: The Country With The Highest Hdi In All Of Asia
Nicole Weymann 1 year ago
Apparently "Human Development Index" (https://www.lai.fu-berlin.de/e-learning/projekte/vwl_basiswissen/Umverteilung/Human_Development_Index__HDI_/index.html)
Load More Replies... Nicole Weymann 1 year ago
Hong Kong is a country?? Edit: I looked it up: it's listed as such on Wikipedia, followed by Singapore. "The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators" - of course densely populated city states in relativly affluent areas are up front. It's more difficult to retain a network of schools and hospitals in less densely populated areas than in cities.
#49
Rio De Janeiro - Brasil
Glix Drap 1 year ago
I bet you Bruce Wayne would have bought one of these apartments - "Albert, let's start digging".
Ricardo 1 year ago
The Ciep Presidente João Goulart is a school and sports center for the neighboring favela (slum) Pavão-Pavãozinho. It is a wonderful project that in almost 40 years has improved the conditions of the residents. It doesn't look so ugly from below.
Ricardo 1 year ago
On the right it is possible to see the free elevator that connects directly to the General Osório subway station.
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#50
Edmonton, Canada
General Anaesthesia 1 year ago
"Rogers Place is a multi-use indoor arena in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Construction started in March 2014, and the building officially opened on September 8, 2016. The arena has a seating capacity of 18,347 as a hockey venue and 20,734 as a concert venue" - Wikipedia
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Tasha Weber 1 year ago
It's unfortunate they used this view of the City. Just to the south is one of the largest Urban Parks in North America, not to mention this in winter when everything is brown. Look here for many nicer photos of a very green and beautiful city! https://photos.edmonton.ca/City-Scenes/20110816-Airscapes/i-SL3dMwQ
King's Flatulist 1 year ago
I'm in this photo and I don't like it. Haha, actually from here and used to live in one of the apartments in this photo (higher of the two very similar looking white ones with square brick bases), and I still work very close to that football stadium in the top right hahaha :')
George Costanza 1 year ago
Pretty sure most midsize North American cities look like this from above.
Horosho Bodka 1 year ago
I visited Edmonton for two nights back in the early 80's, we staged out of there into the arctic circle for NATO exercises. At that time, it was lovely, clean and nice. Of course, I only saw town at night, was on base all day.
Arthur Waite 1 year ago
(Speaking up for my home) A similar picture, from a height, in Toronto, would also show about five thousand trees.
#51
Monrovia Liberia. Apparently The Poorest Capital City In The World
Foxglove🇮🇪 1 year ago
This is a marketplace, not a residential area. Yellow cars are taxis, the umbrellas shade the produce stalls/sellers
#52
My Country Doesn't Make It Often To This Sub, But Here's One: House Under A Highway Bridge, Zürich, Switzerland
Jrog 1 year ago
More likely, he received a generous settlement but had no obligation to sell. Sometimes when the infrastructure plan allow for further use of the land or building the owner is given the option to sell at regulated price or to receive compensation for the loss of value. It's usually up to the owner.
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#53
"Edifício Valente" In São Paulo, Brazil
General Anaesthesia 1 year ago
Habitat is 12 storeys and slightly pyramidal. That might be slightly more pleasing to the eye.
Load More Replies... René Sauer 1 year ago
Eh, a single building isn´t urban hell for me. If you look at the whole picture it doesn´t look to bad. lot of trees there.
#54
Playground In Sweden
#55
Massive High Rise Jail In Chicago
#56
London Hell
Pyla 1 year ago
I think this is an older photo and they are renovating the landscape on this old brutalist housing block to be more inviting and communal.
Nicole Weymann 1 year ago
They look like the complex Eggsy lived in ("Kingsman The Secret Service"). If so it's Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate/Rowley Way https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Road_Estate. I don't like the look of dilapidated brutalist architecture, but judging from the Wiki entry they at least tried to do good.
Load More Replies... #57
This Terrifying (Unusable?) Fire Escape Staircase, Taipei, Taiwan
#58
This Trailer Park In West Virginia Is Built Completely Inside A Highway Ramp
LonelyLittleLeafSheep 1 year ago
At least they have some green space. I've seen trailer parks that are just asphalt.
#59
Everyday Cross Border Commuter Traffic (Tijuana 🇲🇽 To California🇺🇸) Average 3-8 Hours Daily Wait Times
#60
View From My Hotel Room In Athens
keyboardtek 1 year ago
This make me want to go crazy with my pressure washer to blast all the mold off the masonry.
#61
Fremont Hotel & Casino Windows In Las Vegas, Nevada
Michal Pifko 1 year ago
Great picture and great use of contemporary architecture to keep rooms from direct sunlight. Not hell at all.
Stephanie A Mutti 1 year ago
I don't understand what the problem is here. First it's amazing to look at but secondly, las vegas gets incredibly hot in the summer and presumably these are shades built around the window to deflect some of that heat off the windows in an effort to keep the rooms cooler.
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
my brain isn't making sence of this image somehow. where are the windows? I't just looks like some wierd modern art mosaic
Nicole Weymann 1 year ago
The windows each have blinds above them and to their right (the "grey-ish" lengthy rectangles with the bend on the upper end). They throw their shadows around the windows (the dark spaces) so the rooms don't heat up as much.
Load More Replies... #62
Lycée Jean Jaurès, Biggest High School In Paris Area
OneHappyPuppy 1 year ago
Well my highschool used to be a woman's prison so this definitely looks better
der sebbl 1 year ago
Well, it's a school with a big school yard. Don't know if it fits the topic of the thread
Graham_Illegal 1 year ago
Do you think schools aren’t supposed to be comfortable, green, safe, inviting, enjoyable, and visually pleasing for some reason?
Load More Replies... #63
This 550 Foot Building With No Windows In New York
Cally2001 1 year ago
It's actually a pretty cool brutalist building for telephone exchange originally. Machines not people!
BrunoVI 1 year ago
Conspiracy theories aside, this is not an office building. Telephone cables do not need windows.
Jane 1 year ago
100% true. If people looked around i'm sure they would find similar buildings across the world. I know that in Australia if it's a big red brick building with no windows in a CBD, it's probably a Telstra Exchange building.
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#64
A Midcentury Corner Building In Hong Kong
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
Would probably come up quite nicely with a good scrub and a paint job
#65
Kyiv, Ukraine
Spencer's slave no longer 1 year ago
Not any more. Putin, one of Trump's best buddies has so much to answer for.
ƒιѕн 1 year ago (edited)
Why the need to mention Trump, he has noting to do with this image. Wish everyone would quit bringing politics into every post. Everyone knows who Putin is.
Load More Replies... #66
Arcitechts Just Doing Anything To Stand Out, Wtf Is This
René Sauer 1 year ago
Ah, That! I don´t dislike it, but compared to the original building it´s definitively a downgrade poultry-66...04c28c.jpg 
General Anaesthesia 1 year ago
"No 1 Poultry is a building in the City of London, allocated to office and commercial use. It occupies the apex where the eastern ends of Poultry and Queen Victoria Street meet at Mansion House Street, the western approach to Bank junction. The design, by James Stirling, was constructed after the architect's death." - Wikipedia
Load More Replies... Petra Schaap 1 year ago
i seem to be among the few who love this wacky building :-D the building before that was nice too by the way. Also apparently they originally wanted to build a mini modernist sky scraper here, yikes!!!
#67
The Cement City From Above. Athens , Greece
#68
Slums Near The Taj Mahal. Agra, India
keyboardtek 1 year ago
This super wealth next to extreme poverty is the success of capitalism around the entire planet.
#69
An Old Residential Building In Chongqing, China
LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago (edited)
At least they have some greenery. It's definitely better than some of the other places on this list.
Nicole Weymann 1 year ago
The bottom overgrown level reminds me of the Rosymorn Monastery aesthetics in BG3.
#70
Seoul, South Korea
Robin 1 year ago
From memory they paint them green rather than planting anything. Would be cool if it was all grass or a moss variety.
Load More Replies... #71
Tajikistan. A Country People Seem To Forget About A Lot. Did You Know It’s The 4th Poorest Country In Asia
Robert Beveridge 1 year ago
In case anyone else immediately asked the same question I did: Yemen, Timor, and Myanmar.
doredde 1 year ago
Is that meant disrespectful or do you want to tell us you are just uneducated and proud of it?
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#73
An Old Building In Ginza, The Most Expensive Area Of Tokyo (Japan)
#74
East Berlin In 1980s, Everything Looks So Gray
Jrog 1 year ago (edited)
1) It's a byproduct of the photographic process at the time. In Soviet countries the Kodakchrome process, that gave bright colors, was not easily available since Kodak manufactured film for military and satellite application they had a ton of export restrictions. Purchase of color film by private citizens was forbidden until the 1970s, with the rare imports being reserved for official use and state-approved artists or reporters. The small internal production still relied on AGFA patents that were by then 4 decades old, giving dull colors and with the reds quickly degrading with time (evident in this photo).
Jrog 1 year ago (edited)
3) German urban aesthetics has always been quite "grayish" and "brick red", and even with the color revolution it took a good while -if it even happened- for Germany to start updating their urban environments. West Berlin buildings of the 80s had the same aesthetic, it took the reconstruction after the unification to start building stuff like the Sony Center and the Neue Hauptbahnhof. Other cities -possibly with the exception of Koln- had the same dull look. Hamburg, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart... This was just the way German cities looked until the late '90s. Most often the only brightly colored building in the city is the local old Rathaus or any surviving building from the renaissance.
Load More Replies... John O'Donnell 1 year ago
Everywhere was grey in the 1980s, except London, which was brown and grey.
Nicole Weymann 1 year ago
The picture of Houston, Texas in the 1970s (currently at #14) begs to differ. Also the photo appears to have been taken in autumn/winter, as there is actually a tree (or naked branches thereof) in the bottom right corner. But yes: I prefer my cities with more green in them, too.
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Shelby Moonheart 1 year ago
When I was there in 1986, there were machine gum pox marks on the building walls.
Thomas Wolf 1 year ago
There's a simple explanation for that. Coal. Imagine thousands and thousands of appartment houses heated by stoves burning coal. Not to speak of the traffic and the industrial facilities. This was the situation in pretty much any of the cities of east Germany in the 80s.
#75
Offensive Fences
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
its new. Just put some bushes and maybe trees in it and come back in two years, it will be nice.
Emma S 1 year ago
This looks like the UK, where there is a big housing crisis. They can't build houses fast enough so unfortunately a lot of space that used to be available for people to enjoy and children to play on is now housing estates.
Load More Replies... #76
Backstreet In Pyongyang From Juche Tower
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
Doesn't look too bad. A little dense but at least it's still got character and looks like it still has some resemblence of community
#77
1920's Urban Hell
Francois 1 year ago
I'm sure it looks better at street level. It looks like Georgian terraced houses with bay windows and nice periodic features.
Spencer's slave no longer 1 year ago
Built for the factory and railway workers. They are worth a fortune now.
Load More Replies... Thomas Wolf 1 year ago
Just because it is newly built and looks dull from a bird's perspective doesn't mean it is "urban hell".
Jrog 1 year ago (edited)
It is Kensal Green in London. By the 1920 was basically a company town for railway workers, most of whose were first generation immigrants from Ireland and WW1 veterans. The place was hastily built with little care for whoever had to live there, those houses were designed to house at least 2 families that could easily be of 15 people each. That said, it was not even a half bad place when it came to living in London. It was leveled by German bombs in WW2 with great loss of life, with the shoddy constructions not being able to withstand nearby bomb blasts and the fires.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
similar houses were build to rehome people from slums. Must have been luxury for them! Also as this seem to be new, there are young trees waiting to grow big.
Marilyn Holt 1 year ago
All of this makes me wonder why I am able to have a tiny house with a garden in a rural paradise by a river. People born in some of these dreadful scenes just have no choice at all. I give thanks every day.
#78
Non-Touristic Amsterdam
Purple light 1 year ago
No it is the metro in Zuidoost, near Kraaiennest station. Not exactly the prettiest part of the town.
Load More Replies... #79
360 Apartments Amsterdam
Adam McNally 1 year ago
Strange. I am pretty sure this building has been featured before, as being one of the most unique buildings from the past couple of years. Need to zoom out. It’s quite a beautiful building.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
its called Valley. Google it, i wanted to post a different picture but there are too many different sides! its a fun building.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
yesss this made it!! :-D you either love or hate these. I absolutely lovethem!
#80
Tehran, Iran
King's Flatulist 1 year ago
Tehran has a very similar latitude to grand Canyon, and has a higher elevation. Grand Canyon regularly gets snow every year, and so does Tehran!
Load More Replies... #81
Kyushu Cement Plant
Roan The Demon Kitty 1 year ago
very bladerunner-esque. I'm used to seeing this kind of stuff though, spent a good portion of my childhood in Teesside.... (thankfully, I didn't end up like the "average person from teesside". /s... kinda) and I'm not too far away on the North Yorkshire coast.
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Rae Reyn 1 year ago
Do all those people commenting on the lack of trees and grass in Egypt understand where it is? Have they ever heard of a desert? There is a lot of green along the Nile, but none of those pictures are of the Nile, just the urban centers built in the actual desert.
Ece Cenker 1 year ago
Desert has nothing to do with it. Obviously the urban planning (?) and construction choices made it a worse concrete hell. Take a look at number 21. Do you think that was before the last ice age?
Load More Replies... Guess Undheit 1 year ago
EVERY SINGLE ONE of those car hellscapes could have been avoided with public transit. And every one of those wastes of land (not counting overcrowded places like Hong Kong) could have been avoided with apartments instead of suburbs. In the space wasted on twenty suburb buildings, you could build a twenty apartment building that takes the space of 4-6 yards, and leave the other 14-16 yards as communal public space (parks, gardens, etc.). This is proof of the failure of capitalism that "the market" only cares about maximizing profit because the capitalists can avoid taking responsibility for the damage they caused.
Uncle Schmickle 1 year ago
All this points to the elephant in the room, i.e. the cause : human over population.
WindySwede 1 year ago
the boring part of this post, is that I can't check the notifications I get. There are no /?comment_id=xxxxxxxx at the end of the link!
Gracie Mae 1 year ago
so much "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot." idk how people can live in such crowded spaces & close quarters. I know it is probably a necessity in some cases, but how terribly sad!
Freya the Wanderer 1 year ago
Pictures like this could make you hope for the end of civilization.
Rae Reyn 1 year ago
Do all those people commenting on the lack of trees and grass in Egypt understand where it is? Have they ever heard of a desert? There is a lot of green along the Nile, but none of those pictures are of the Nile, just the urban centers built in the actual desert.
Ece Cenker 1 year ago
Desert has nothing to do with it. Obviously the urban planning (?) and construction choices made it a worse concrete hell. Take a look at number 21. Do you think that was before the last ice age?
Load More Replies... Guess Undheit 1 year ago
EVERY SINGLE ONE of those car hellscapes could have been avoided with public transit. And every one of those wastes of land (not counting overcrowded places like Hong Kong) could have been avoided with apartments instead of suburbs. In the space wasted on twenty suburb buildings, you could build a twenty apartment building that takes the space of 4-6 yards, and leave the other 14-16 yards as communal public space (parks, gardens, etc.). This is proof of the failure of capitalism that "the market" only cares about maximizing profit because the capitalists can avoid taking responsibility for the damage they caused.
Uncle Schmickle 1 year ago
All this points to the elephant in the room, i.e. the cause : human over population.
WindySwede 1 year ago
the boring part of this post, is that I can't check the notifications I get. There are no /?comment_id=xxxxxxxx at the end of the link!
Gracie Mae 1 year ago
so much "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot." idk how people can live in such crowded spaces & close quarters. I know it is probably a necessity in some cases, but how terribly sad!
Freya the Wanderer 1 year ago
Pictures like this could make you hope for the end of civilization.
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