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“$58 Billion Ghost City”: 50 Shocking ‘Urban Hell’ Photos That Expose The Price Of Modern Life (New Pics)
Comfort, better education, and jobs, among other things, draw people to cities. The pull is so strong that more than half of the world’s population already lives in urban environments. But the comforts and conveniences of the cities don’t come without a price. Pollution, biodiversity loss, rising crime rates, and living costs are just a few things that are changing our planet for the worse.
Urbanization has become a man-made hell that we now have to live in, and to prove it even further, we compiled a list of pictures from the Urban Hell subreddit that expose the price of modern life. To find them, all you have to do is scroll down.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Cleaning Up A Canal In Dhaka, Bangladesh
Ramchandra canal in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, which has been cleaned up and restored in 72 hours as part of ongoing efforts to clean up revitalise Bangladeshi canals. Led by NGOs with sponsorship from a bank and support from the government and the city corporation. Hopefully we can keep it this way!
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#2
Spotted In Barcelona
#3
Reflection Of Inequalities
#4
Boston Before And After The Highway Was Moved Underground In 2003
#5
Urban Hell Reversal
Beijing’s Liangma River went from a dry, cracked canal in the late ’90s to a green, thriving part of the city by 2025. Clean water, tree-lined walkways, and modern buildings from city planning.
#6
Rich vs. Poor In Buenos Aires, Argentina
#7
My View From My Hotel In Manila, Philippines
#8
Western World's E-Waste In Ghana
Peeka_Mimi 2 months ago
I always donate my electronics to women's shelters. Also there is recycling options available to refurbish them. No excuse for this.
#9
South Korea's Capital Looks Like It Has No Seoul
#10
North Korean Government-Built Countryside Homes
Rows upon endless rows of identical bland and monotonous, perfectly symmetrical houses in a newly opened countryside residential complex in North Korea.
Pittsburgh rare 2 months ago (edited)
Almost as dystopian as your government not providing decent and affordable housing and leaving you dealing with an impossible market that forces people to live in inhuman conditions. This is in no way a defense of the N. Korean regime, but a reflection on the western countries housing crisis.
#11
Nad Al Sheba Neighborhood In Dubai, UAE
#12
Cages In Chongqing, China
#13
A Stunning Example Of Cable Management Spotted In Bangladesh
#14
Amsterdam, Nl 🇳🇱
#15
Hong Kong In 1964 And Now
#16
Modernizing City Blocks In Austria (2019 And 2023)
#17
Dubai Partition Room For Rent $1,000 Month
#18
Delhi
Lil be lil 2 months ago
Don't want to be in the middle of that! How would you even get out!!????
#19
Haiti - 10 Years After Earthquake. Photo By Paolo Woods
Lil be lil 2 months ago
Well the Haitians will take care of that! With paint and plantings! It's a start.
#20
Kathmandu Is The Most Polluted City In The World Right Now According To AQI
#21
New Delhi Cows
#22
World’s Biggest Tire Graveyard In Kuwait
YakFactory 2 months ago
Imagine a fire in there. The smell and the smoke and the air pollution. I'm guessing it could burn for years.
#23
Anti-Homeless Architecture, USA/UK
Fixing a problem with a problem.
Pittsburgh rare 2 months ago
This is cheaper than actually dealing with homelessness. It also requires less thinking, which is something politicians aren't very prone to
#24
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
#25
Apartment Buildings In Chongqing, China
#26
They Replaced A Masterpiece With A Spreadsheet
The Majestic Opossum 2 months ago
While this is sadly true, it's not an accurate representation of the entire city. Much of Chicago's beautiful architecture has been preserved and restored over the years. And some of the modern structures are beautiful and awe inspiring in their own right.
#27
Tyumen, Russia. It Looks Like A Montage, But It Isn't
#28
Kolkata, India
Tyranamar Seuss 2 months ago
What's up with the cows just loitering about in the litter? I thought they were sacred. Shouldn't they be being kept in nice green fields?
#30
Aerial View Of São Paulo, The Most Populous City In The Americas With 22 Million Inhabitants
#31
Novi Beograd
#32
Inequality In Manila
Joshua Santiago 2 months ago
Im sure there's a budget for this somewhere, prolly going to someone's pocket unto their kids lavish expense.
#33
Manaus, Brazil
#34
China's 50 Lane Traffic, G4 Expressway
#35
Really .. What Were They Thinking?
#36
Taj Mahal, India
#37
Egypt’s New Administrative Capital – A $58 Billion Ghost City
Planned as a solution to Cairo’s congestion, the NAC aims to house government buildings, embassies, and millions of residents. The trip itself was an experience—an hour-long Uber ride from Cairo, passing through three security checkpoints before entering. Security presence was unmistakable: police, military patrols, and constant surveillance. Yet, aside from them and a few gardeners, the city felt almost deserted.
However, despite its scale, the NAC raises concerns about affordability, social impact, and whether it will truly alleviate Cairo’s urban pressures or remain a prestige project benefiting a select few.
Urbanist and architect Yasser Elsheshtawy captures this sentiment well.
#39
Alexandria, Egypt
#40
Malé, Capital Of The Maldives
Eliza 2 months ago
This doesn't like like hell to me at all. It's very built up, but the buildings appear structural sound and the people in them have access to all the amenities of modern life and great views to boot. It's practically paradise. To me urban hell is slums with limited access to basic things like clean water and toilets.
#41
A Graffiti Piece Across 50 Buildings In Cairo, By El Seed
#43
Shenzhen, 1980-2025
iseefractals 2 months ago
Hmm....1980....when 90% of overall chinese population, and 96% of rural chinese lived in abject poverty. Where as today it's at 17%. Yeah....what a terrible trade off.
#44
A New Costco Opened This Week. Everything Is Car Parking
#45
Japan (It's Very Hard To Find Trash Cans There)
Anthony Elmore 2 months ago
I want to say this is likely tourist garbage, since Japanese people are in the habit of pocketing their garbage, but I also don't know how frustrating it can be when you can't really pocket the garbage, so....
#46
Mole People In The Philippines
Makati is the financial district of the Philippines. Recently someone saw a person coming out of a very narrow ditch. Another person chimed in with their own sightings.
We don't know yet why people are there, how many people are there, and where this narrow canal leads to. According to the post, it's possible that the narrow canal leads to wider canals.
Now, authorities are patching the openings and closing the ditch entrances.
I knew of documentaries of people living in waterways but this ditch is very narrow.
#47
Egypt Is Demolishing Parts Of Cairo’s 1,200-Year-Old Al-Qarafa Cemetery—one Of The World’s Oldest Continuously Used Necropolises—to Make Way For Roads And Modern Infrastructure
#48
Vancouver, Canada
#49
A Crumbling Shopping Alley In Gifu, Japan
#50
Alexandria, Egypt
#51
Leicester England, 1950s
#52
Norilsk (Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia) Is A City With Multiple Faces, Some Of Them Definitely Fit Here
#53
North Korea
#54
Cat Ba Town, Vietnam
#55
London, UK
#56
Bnei Brak, Israel. 8th Most Densely Populated City
#57
More Poverty In Southern Italy
I tried to show poverty without showing Roma/refugee camps, Ik it’s just screenshots, but i lost my phone and lost the old photos i had. I still wanna visit sometime soon, most of its beautiful but let’s not ignore that there is still very real poverty in southern Italy.
#58
Kyzyl, Respublic Of Tuva. The Poorest Region Of Russia
Tyranamar Seuss 2 months ago
Looks much nicer than America's poorest places. Compared this to skid row. It's downright tidy.
#59
Norilsk, Russia
#61
Chechnya
#62
Al Dana Villas - A Scar On The Beautiful Eastern Coast Of The UAE
Rich Black 1 month ago
this creation of "new land" might be preferable to building high rise towers on the existing beaches, though
#63
Traditional Back-To-Back Homes In Beeston. Photo Taken March 19, 2021, In Leeds, UK
#64
Belgrade, View From My Hotel Room
#65
Ivanovo, Russia. Before And After
#66
Lake Victoria, Uganda
#68
Tuzla Bank Building, Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina
#69
New York Metro
turk 2 months ago
My wife, who is Russian, wanted to "ride the famous New York subway" from the airport when we visited. I wanted to take a cab, but I relented. We sure as Hell took a cab when we went back to the airport. She assumed it would be like the immaculately clean Moscow metro, which has art exhibits at every station.
#70
What's The Point Of This Balcony? (Rimini, Italy)
Paulsible deniability 2 months ago
When your wife comes home unexpectedly and you need to hide your girlfriend around the corner?
#72
Cañada Real (Spain), The Biggest Favela In Europe
Pittsburgh rare 2 months ago
That's not the whole thing. That photo is of the part where the d**g trafficking happens. There are other parts with regular houses that were built in the 60s during mass emigration to the cities from rural areas. They all lack building permits and will be eventually demolished.
#73
Soviet Experiments In Yerevan, Armenia
#74
Kyiv, Ukraine. Good Or Bad?
#76
Kowloon Walled City, True Urban Hell
#77
Widest Highway In The World Is In Ontario, Canada / Highway 401 /
Toothless Feline 2 months ago
In measured width, maybe. Doesn’t even come close to the number of lanes on that 50-lane monstrosity in China.
#78
German Cities Were Demolished For Open-Cast Mining
Bored Seagull 2 months ago
Fortunately the state government and the company operating the mine came to an agreement to end mining operations by 2030. This saves several villages which had already been depopulated from being demolished, and the former inhabitants may buy back the houses they had to sell to the mining company.
#79
70 Sqm Flat Is Worth 400k USD Here, Asian Side Of Istanbul
#80
A Brand New Cemented Road In Bangalore, India
#81
This University Building In Bangladesh Looks Like A Scene From A Dystopian Sci-Fi Film
The building in question is BRAC university campus located in Dhaka | Photo by arekta_photogram on Instagram.
#82
Baghdad’s Arab Shore Promenade: From A Green Oasis In 1993 To A Concrete Desert By 2025
#83
Al Ba'sa Building, Beirut: A 60cm Wide Building Built By A Man To Obstruct His Brother’s Sea View After A Real Estate Dispute
In 1954, a thin wedge-shaped building was erected by architects Salah and Fawzi Itani on a 120 sq m plot in Beirut, Lebanon at the request of a man wanting to spoil the sea view of his brother after they failed to agree to jointly develop their neighboring plots. The street facade appears to be an ordinary apartment building, but is 60 cm at the narrowest and four meters at the widest. It is known as Al Ba'sa (The Middle Finger) and formerly as The Queen Mary due to its resemblance to the cruise ship.
#84
Potholes On Railway. Guess The Country (Not Japan)
#85
Turkey Is The Largest Destination For Waste Exported From The EU
Rich Black 1 month ago
just say no. you don't have to keep renewing your contract to get this stuff.
#86
Jinan University Dormitories, China
#87
A Girl Rides The Subway In NYC In 1986
#88
Urban Sculpture Disasters Of Turkey
#89
New Delhi Train Station
#90
Panelkas With Bridges, Tbilisi, Georgia
#91
Hanoi, Vietnam During Foggy Night
#92
An Alley In Kabukicho, Tokyo's Largest Red Light District
#93
In A Love Hate Relationship With This Building
"White Magnolia", Batumi, Georgia
#94
Modern Korean Cities Are Pretty Ugly
#96
Moscow
Rich Black 1 month ago
they have cars, elevators, running water, and electricity 24/7. beauty is a luxury demanded by western elites.
#97
New York City In The 1970s
During this decade, the city gained notoriety for high rates of crime and social disorders; the city’s subway system was regarded as unsafe and dangerous, and people were warned not to walk the streets after 6 PM. Prostitutes and pimps frequented Times Square, while Central Park became feared as the site of muggings and harassment.
Hassel Davidhoff 2 months ago
And without that reputation we wouldn't have the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So it was a fair trade.
#98
Taipei, Taiwan
#99
Guangzhou, China 🇨🇳
#100
Wanhua, Taipei. 1965 V.s. 2025
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What do you think ?
Grm Moore 2 months ago
How about the US cattle farms. Cattle concentration camps. Saw a doco on it, aerial view. Not a blade of grass anywhere for miles. Truck in feed, truck out meat. 13,000 litres of water to make 1kg beef. And Nevada, LA, rivers that don't reach the sea anymore, aquifer water vanishing. There are TOO MANY people. Everywhere.
CD Mills 2 months ago
You are thinking about a Feed Yard, or holding pens at a slaughterhouse, and yeah they suck. It's the last stop before the slaughterhouse. Cattle ranches cover Sections of land, one Section is one square mile. We lived on one place that was twenty sections (20 sq miles) and the next place we moved to was two hundred and fifty sections, yes, the ranch was 250 sq miles. We had plenty of forage for the livestock we ran.
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Laura Aho 1 month ago
I feel some of this is quite snobbish; if people have a clean, safe, warm place to live with plumbing, electricity, and running water, it's a win. Aesthetics are subjective. Not everyone can or even wants to live in a one family house, personally I don't want to spend my time mowing the lawn or gardening, or fixing the roof or shoveling snow so an appartment building is perfect for me.
Peeka_Mimi 2 months ago
I like big cities with lots of skyscrapers. I live in Downtown Aurora, Colorado, about 6 miles from Downtown Denver. I prefer urban living, sometimes I need to escape to the mountains, but I need my city.
Grm Moore 2 months ago
How about the US cattle farms. Cattle concentration camps. Saw a doco on it, aerial view. Not a blade of grass anywhere for miles. Truck in feed, truck out meat. 13,000 litres of water to make 1kg beef. And Nevada, LA, rivers that don't reach the sea anymore, aquifer water vanishing. There are TOO MANY people. Everywhere.
CD Mills 2 months ago
You are thinking about a Feed Yard, or holding pens at a slaughterhouse, and yeah they suck. It's the last stop before the slaughterhouse. Cattle ranches cover Sections of land, one Section is one square mile. We lived on one place that was twenty sections (20 sq miles) and the next place we moved to was two hundred and fifty sections, yes, the ranch was 250 sq miles. We had plenty of forage for the livestock we ran.
Load More Replies... Laura Aho 1 month ago
I feel some of this is quite snobbish; if people have a clean, safe, warm place to live with plumbing, electricity, and running water, it's a win. Aesthetics are subjective. Not everyone can or even wants to live in a one family house, personally I don't want to spend my time mowing the lawn or gardening, or fixing the roof or shoveling snow so an appartment building is perfect for me.
Peeka_Mimi 2 months ago
I like big cities with lots of skyscrapers. I live in Downtown Aurora, Colorado, about 6 miles from Downtown Denver. I prefer urban living, sometimes I need to escape to the mountains, but I need my city.
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