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People In This Online Community Mock “Urban Hell” Posts And These 50 Memes Are Hilarious
When one hears the term “Urban Hell,” most of us envision horrible, gray sprawl, smog and an acute lack of any greenery in sight. At the same time, through an abundance of ill-informed memes and digital word of mouth, some folks start to believe that they actually know a lot about places they’ve never visited.
We’ve gathered some of the best posts from a group dedicated to making fun of the echo chamber that is the “Urban Hell” group. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your own thoughts and experiences in the comments section down below.
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#1
Horrible, Look At All This Concrete. This City Must Be Horrible To Live In
ArthRol:
Soviet architecture and urban planning is so bland and senseless. Like what is the purpose of that dumb circular thing???
420_E-SportsMasta:
A buy-here pay-here used car lot would look amazing instead of that colosseum.
wizard680:
Ok so it actually was pretty bad to live in. So bad that when the Romans made new cities, they used Rome as an example of how NOT to build a city
Edit: bad in the sense that they had no planning. Traffic was Huston level bad.
RELATED:
#2
Literally Unlivable
SubnauticaFan3:
Literally the UK. Most places just seem unlivable because of the bad weather, the rare sunny day can really raise the mood.
David Paterson 3 months ago
The only difference between living in London and a Dickensian slum is that in Dickens' time the buildings were new.
#3
God I Hate American Urban Planning
moreVCAs:
What is this, a city for transistors?
cornmonger_:
Note the SDRAMs Stadium to the left.
Anon:
I think you’re confusing it with the old Qualcomm stadium.
Forums on the internet founded upon topics like "Urban Hell" set out with a pretty clear agenda: to publish and discuss the downside of modern urban life, ranging from bleak architecture to overpopulation to soulless city planning. In the beginning, these kinds of sites can be enlightening, allowing people to vent, highlight real issues, and share perspectives from all over the world. But as time goes on, many of those groups tend to turn into echo chambers, where the conversation narrows and contrary views get drowned out.
Some of the reason for that has to do with online group dynamics. Most individuals head to places they already align with in terms of underlying concept, and algorithms also reinforce that by bringing forward content that fits within the existing tone of the group.
#4
Cancer On An Otherwise Compact, Walkable City
TheSamuil:
What's the deal with that green space? It makes me want to puke.
TheQuestionMaster8:
One of the few redeeming qualities of Cairo as a place to live in. The city has an overpopulation crisis, poor public transport and as a consequence, traffic is beyond insane, dust pollution as well as air pollution from the traffic is a major problem.
#5
South Korea 👎🤮 North Korea 🤰 🤰
average-alt:
See, some people talk about light pollution and some people do something about light pollution. Kim Jong-un, bless his heart 🥰
Benjamin_Stark:
The ship traffic off the coast of South Korea gives off more light than North Korea.
#6
Japan, Random Railway 🤮 Japan, Anime 😍
SilentSpr:
It’s not random at all. Very well known spot for photos of trams with the sea as background. I believe there are animes with this location as a reference.
If a more nuanced perspective gets shared, such as pointing out the benefits of density, or reminding folks that cities also have strong cultural and social assets, the response is tepid at best, hostile at worst. This has a cumulative effect of stifling balanced dialogue and reinforcing content that caters to the mood of the moment, too often negativity.
#7
In Spirit Of Recent Trend:
Background_Cut_6325:
This is unironically a great example of how trees and vegetation can change how we feel about places.
#9
Saw This Really Ugly And Run Down Building In Italy 🤢
kilqax:
So old smh why don't they put an office building or something in there
It lacks underground parking as well + no cyclist paths
Then there's the psychological salve of validation. Whining about ugly concrete skyscrapers or shoebox apartments is therapeutic, but it's the spike of agreement, likes, comments, affirmations, that makes it addictive. People quickly learn that the surest way to get attention is to post things that reinforce the collective sense of outrage or despair. Nuance, context, or contrarian views just don't go viral as easily, as they don't resonate on the same emotional frequency.
#10
Are Japan Glazers Stupid?
Rechupe:
You can tell OP never walks.
Ece Cenker 3 months ago
When traffic is rushing by, there are no destinations within walking distance and there are zero to no other person walking around, the existance of wide sidewalks with little protection from the elements mean little concerning walkability. The narrow human-scale street street with low motor vehicle frequencyin in a dense urban environment is much more walkable.
#11
Ughh Suburbs. Car Dependency Boat Dependency Most Streets Are Dead Ends
Brayden_1274628:
Mosquito season must be deadly.
ShaggyFOEE:
Well I'm walking to the store I'll see you guys in 6 hours...
#12
Probably The Most Heartbreaking Trailcam Image Ever Seen
The-Legend-26:
No, he is clearly aware that the sea of light is constructed by human design over the last hundreds of years and that the rate at which this human society is growing will inevitably consume all available resources at the cost of the mountain lion's natural habitat.
Susan Reid Smith 3 months ago
In Southern California, habitat is being protected and connections between areas are being maintained and in one case even created with a bridge over US 101 north of Los Angeles.
As a result, the tone of the group becomes extreme. Instead of the healthy dose of criticism and praise, everything starts to shift to the negative. A moderately ugly building is dystopian, a crowded sidewalk is evidence of societal collapse, and a single bad instance of city planning is taken to be a universal rule. What begins as a forum deteriorates into more of a self-reinforcing cycle of frustration, with people competing to mention the worst possible examples.
#13
Barcelona Mixes Soviet Blocks With American Car Dependant Infrastructure
420_E-SportsMasta:
Imagine how cool that would look if it were several 18 lane superhighways with cloverleaf ramps and combination Taco Bell/KFCs and “buy here pay here” used car dealerships inside the on/off ramps instead.
The-Archangel-Michea:
Real ones know that the current state of Barcelona is a far cry from the much better designed original plan. It was SO much nicer.
#14
Not A Single Tree In Sight. No Bike Infrastructure Whatsoever. Is This The European City They Keep Praising?
shumpitostick:
Venice is beautiful as a tourist destination but it's not a pleasant place to live in at all. Lacking in infrastructure, hard to get around, overpriced, no green spaces, hordes of tourists everywhere. Also, the city stinks.
#15
Pedestrianisation's 9/11
ALPHA_sh:
Bro cannot comprehend food delivery via bike/moped/anything other than a car.
One is the manner in which people utilize these groups as a platform for more abstract anxieties. A photo of a poorly designed intersection can set off not just a debate about city planning, but a general bemoaning of modern existence, capitalism, or inequality. Those concerns are undoubtedly valid, but when each posting is interpreted by the same lens, the group no longer remains about exploring urban spaces, but rather a collective venting area for all sorts of grievances.
#16
Concrete Jungle:😡🤬 “Wait Guys No It’s Japan”: 😍😊
reidft:
The people who idolize Tokyo have never been there. It's literally just city, Japan. Except multiply the population and size. There's people everywhere, it takes forever to get anywhere (even with trains), it's all concrete unless you go to a park, everything is priced higher than elsewhere. Oh cool Weebtown and the red light district exist, it's still Not Great™.
Please don't send me back.
Hidden Tracks 3 months ago
This is photo is actually an electron tunnelling microscope view of a splinter in the palm of your hand.
#17
Arizona - Suburban Decay Overtaking Nature
Rich Black 1 month ago
upvoted for irony. this is a native american village (Anasazi) whch was abandoned in the 13th century due to drought/climate change. cars were not involved.
#18
USA 🤢; La 😍😍
Edsel_B:
😂😂😂 To be fair, LA does have better public transportation than Altoona, PA. Plus the streets are thinner and there is actually a bit more density. It is also less flat in terms of the landscape. And the gas is actually not as bad as that sign either. LA is just ridiculously expensive in terms of housing and is way overhyped. It is also much more suburban than many other, denser cities on the East Coast. The public transit is also very mediocre in LA, but only for such a large city.
Johnnynatfan 3 months ago
That top photo is a famous photo of a weird area in PA that the interstate highways cant connect so there is a small connector road. There is a short documentary about it on youtube.
The echo chamber phenomenon does not mean that such groups are valueless. They draw attention to subjects that need to be debated and give people a feeling of belonging. However, when the environment becomes too biased, perception becomes skewed. Cities are complex, the ugly and beautiful stand together, but echo chambers force members to look at only one side of the equation. Ultimately, it can make the group more about the reaffirming of one story instead of helpful criticism.
#19
I Can't Believe That These Ugly Stone Buildings Are Still Standing, So Depressing
Other_Movie_5384:
There are no bike racks, ew.
Literally unliavable.
DarthRevan456:
Literally a concrete nightmare 😱
AndreaTwerk:
So disproportionate.
#20
Night In Chinese City 😡🤬🌚🏭 vs. Night In Japanese City 🥰😍🌕🌸
Polak_Janusz:
Parts of the internet really glaze Japan, its so annoying to talk about anything Japan does in good faith online because there are people who cant accept that their super kawaii >_< Country actually has a lot of problems and then there are people who overcorrect and paint it as a dystopia.
Zig Zag Wanderer 3 months ago
I think it's very obvious that a country selling used girls' underwear in vending machines has a problem...
#21
Istanbul, Turkey 🤢🤮 Istambolana, Spain ☀️🍉🌊😍😍
artin2007majidi:
I love how by looking at the interactions of r/urbanhell and r/urbanhellcirclejerk the entire philosophical history of mankind from mythos to enlightenment to modernism to postmodernism can be observed in a microcosm.
In short, groups like "Urban Hell" devolve into echo chambers because human psychology, internet algorithms, and the fundamental desire for validation collude to prefer repetition to nuance. What begins as a forum to trade opinions turns into a chorus of agreement, in which disagreement is discordant and balance is drowned out in the din.
#23
Pure Hell In Germany
#24
Repeating Buildings Scare Me
harryofbath:
Me: looks out window I hate my country's "architecture."
London Paris 3 months ago
Regardless of one's ability to spell, looking out upon a sea of identical, crammed in like sardines accommodation boxes with little to no character or individuality is a legitimately depressing experience especially when they could and SHOULD be an expression of the people inside rather than the bland corporate expression of "cheapest available materials" . . . .
#25
I Am Conducting A Social Experiment
Professional_Rise148:
To be fair, Bethesda sucks.
Johnnynatfan 3 months ago (edited)
Bethesda Maryland does suck. I hate when I have to go there for any reason.
Rich Black 1 month ago
actual residents prefer bethesda to almost any neighborhood in the district of columbia.
#26
Town, Japan:😡 Town, USA:😍
Simple_Man_899:
The grass is always greener on the other side.
persephone134 3 months ago
So so beautiful. The fanta fuehrer's favourite word (in his limited grasp of vocabulary).
#27
The Dprk Has Identical Suburban Lots, What A Dystopia!
#28
Because Of Heavy Worm Traffic Arrakeen Is No Longer A Safe City For Pedestrians
#29
Caste System For Cities
QMechanicsVisionary:
Japan is actually so ugly. It's literally concrete hell, made even worse by the fact that the buildings are old and bland. I have no idea why it's so revered - at least from an aesthetic point of view.
Forrest Hobbs 3 months ago
Where would you let your primary school child travel to school alone? Japan or India? Many Japanese cities might be ugly, but they're clean and safe.
#30
Place 🤮... Place, Japan 😍
#31
Evil Manhattan Be Like
#32
Disgusting
#33
The Disgusting Streets Of Sofia, Bulgaria. Eastern Europe Is Such A Sh*thole
#34
Clean And Safe, M*slim Country: 🤮 Clean And Safe, Japan: 😍
#35
Apartments Surrounded By Nature 🤮🤮🤮
Auntriarch 3 months ago
I rather liked the soviet era blocks of flats in Warsaw. The weren't high rise, they had big park/green areas around each block with children play areas, and they were still in good condition. So they already won over blocks I've seen in UK.
#37
Portland, OR. Then And Now. Utterly Disgraceful
#38
Not A Single Car! No Traffic At All. Japan Is The Future ^___^
#39
Train, USA 🤮🤮🤮 Densha, Nippon 😍😍😍
Stannous Flouride 3 months ago
It means "Women Only Car" because women get molested on the mixed cars. TBF- Many other cities in other countries have the same thing because so many men are $hitheads.
#40
People When Japaenis People
#41
Place: Place, Japan: 😍🌸🌸🌸
Lyone Fein 3 months ago
Weird . . . . Also, there are plenty of other places more beautiful than Taj Mahal in India.
#42
Urbanhell Posters Be Like
Anon:
I LOVE BIG TALL BUILDINGS MADE OF CONCRETE AND GLASS I LOVE LIVING IN A SOCIETY CAPABLE OF CREATING SUCH STRUCTURES.
#43
2 Post From Same Guy💀
#44
I Think I Mightve Pissed Off The Weeaboos 💀
#45
San Fierro, San Andreas 🤮
#46
Look How Dark And Gray This Photo Is. What An Awful Place To Be
#47
Amazing Public Transit And Walkable Streets In Nairobi, Japan 🎀🐱
#49
God Forbid A City Develops
Ece Cenker 3 months ago
This isn't development. There literally is NOT an iota of "development" in human living conditions from one concretification to the next.
#50
We Got Outjerked Again
#51
North Korea 🥰compared To Europe🤮
#52
I Know It's Not Fair To Compare The Us To Europe, But I Think This Meme Says A Lot
JayWantsACat 3 months ago
Obvioulsy the joke is showing the worst parts in one and the good parts in the other. BUt you could obviously swap that and the reverse would be true.
#53
Park For The Public In Egypt😡😷👎, Home For The Monarchy In Japan 😄🥰👍
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