People On This Group Are Sharing Examples Of ‘Urban Hell’ That Look Like A Dystopian Movie But Are Sadly Real (40 New Pics)
4.2 billion people live in cities worldwide. That's more than half of the population. By 2050, it's projected that more than two-thirds of us will reside in urban areas.
But denser doesn't mean better. This environment can pose a lot of challenges, including noise and air pollution, lack of green spaces, and inadequate transport. And there's a photography subreddit that documents them.
It's called 'Urban Hell' and the people running it say it's dedicated to "all the hideous places human beings built or inhabit." They invite us to go there for aesthetic appreciation of the darker side of the cities, towns, and villages in our world, promising rural and suburban curses as well. So let's do that and take a look at the pictures that have recently popped up within the subreddit.
For more, check out Bored Panda's earlier articles on it here and here.
This post may include affiliate links.
Dhaka, Bangladesh
This Is The Most Apocalyptic Image Of Modern Cairo, Egypt, I Have Ever Seen Anyone Take
If I saw this without the pyramids in the background, I'd tell you it was from an apocalyptic movie.
Of course, city living has a lot to offer. From local coffee shops and restaurants to attending cultural events and meeting people from diverse backgrounds, spending your days in a metropolis can be exciting.
But some of the issues that are evident in these pictures don't just look bad. They also damage our health. And we're not talking about minor annoyances. Constant stimulation from a busy city living can take a big toll on your mental well-being.
The Before And The After Of My Hometown, Hungary
One Of My Most Hated Buildings Finally Got Destroyed And Replaced By Something Beautiful
Compared to rural residents, researchers have discovered that urbanites are 21 percent more likely to have anxiety disorders and 39 percent more likely to have mood disorders. A 2017 meta-analysis also found that rates of the following conditions were also higher among those living in urban areas:
- PTSD;
- anger management;
- generalized anxiety disorder.
The same was true for more serious disorders like schizophrenia and paranoia.
Welcome To Texas
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
There's Cities, There's Metropolises, And Then There's Tokyo
Psychiatrists think it's because the constant stimulation of city life can put you in difficult situations where you get the fight-or-flight response, which in turn alters how you cope with stress.
But the problems don't end there. City living can also chip away at your psychological immune system, which can be precarious for those with a family history of mental illness. According to experts, this environmental stress can increase their risk of developing a psychiatric condition, such as anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder.
50 Lane Traffic Jam - China
(Oc) Hebron’s Multi-Story Borders: Ground-Level Palestinians Construct Fences Above Their Streets To Protect Themselves From Upper-Story Israeli Settlers Who Throw Trash, Furniture, And Rocks Down On Them
Concrete Canyon In Manhattan
I've never been to a city so large that the buildings block out the sun. I think I'll keep it that way.
18000 People In A Single Building. (Saint Petersburg, Russia)
Just imagine trying to evacuate 18000 people if anything happened to the building. Chaos!
Actually, this is MUCH better than 18,000 people living in separate homes. Cities are actually better, in general, for planet earth than suburban sprawl, i.e., see LA or Phoenix.
Actually, it looks like it would be fun to be a kid growing up there.
There was once in the next block: some jerk threw cigarette out of their balcony and it landed several floors lower in the open window. Fortunately, fire extinguishing system is well planned, but it made local news.
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I used to live in a similar house (kind of smaller than this) and these are pretty common, not even the most dystopian looking thing in Russian cities
One building?! Heaven help the people when a elevator, pipe, or electrical breaks. Just looking at that building and seeing 18,000...I have a panic attack. This seems inhumane.
I saw some of these buildings in St .Petersburg. The worst part of it was that I was there in the summer and it was close to 100 Fahrenheit (37.5 Celsius). None of the buildings had air conditioning or indeed any way to get fresh air moving through their homes. Everywhere you looked on these buildings, there were these tiny window units which can't have been helping very much. Climate change is real.
It certainly saves on using too much land! Quite a few of the interior views would never see sunlight...
Visiting a friend there would be a nightmare. "I've been walking for 3 hours. Where is your place again?"
If I lived there I would definitely want to roller skate around each floor and to go visit friends!
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It would be a nice place to live, except for this one woman on the HOA board... Karen.
Reminds me of proposed and accepted new student housing project at University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB).
No, it's Russia, every appartament has bathroom or two, rarely three. What you describe is terrible, i feel sorry for you(
Load More Replies... Every house has several grocery shops, barbershops, pharmacy, smaller hospital, courses, etc.. The whole first floor is for such places. And there are couple of malls nearby)
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Notice not many cars parked around the building for 18K people. In big cities you do not need cars to get around.
I would hate to collect the rent cheques, it would take a week or so. Hopefully they use direct deposit.
In such houses, every apartment is owned privately. The owner either lives there or rents it to another person/family. So they collect rent individually.
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This looks like some monstrosity I left to decay on its own in SimCity 4.
Love that green space just past them. I wonder if there's a metro stop near there.
No, several houses share one. No matter if it has 5 floors or 27
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But even though urban life may lead to emotional distress, shame and stigma can stop young adults from talking about their struggles. This may explain why they feel lonelier than older generations, according to a Cigna study. What's more, young adults, especially millennials, often feel burned out.
Some folks view them as incompetent adults who shy away from responsibility, but as Anne Helen Peterson explained to Buzzfeed, millennials have "errand paralysis" and think they should always be working.
Lagos, Nigeria - The Overcrowding Is Terrible
Egypt, What Is Wrong With You?
Newly Built Housing. Samara, Russia
Saint Petersburg, Russia
these type of compact apartment townships are becoming quite popular throughout the world
City life can also affect our physical health. A 2017 study suggests too much exposure to air pollution and city noise may cause damage to a person's cardiovascular health.
For instance, never-ending traffic noise may interfere with our sleep quality and cause cortisol, the stress hormone, to spike. Over time, elevated levels of this hormone can increase our risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
Do Not Show Partiality To The Poor Or Favoritism To The Great, But Judge Your Neighbor Fairly
New Residential Block In Malaysia
View From The Bathroom Window, Belgrade
When I lived in Belgrade, I had a similar view from the bathroom. Maybe some won't understand, but for me it was nice. I knew everone who lived around, it was cosy and safe. The feeling of home, if you thought of asking for toilet paper, I'm sure someone would throw it to you through the window. The outer side od buildngs where the rooms, kitchen and living are, had an open view. Kinda miss it
Why Does Delhi Looks So Dystopian
It also seems urban dwellers may be more prone to insomnia and sleep difficulties. In a survey of more than 15,000 individuals, researchers found that the bright lights of a city can dampen a person's ability to get a good night's rest.
According to the survey, 6 percent of people living in highly lit, urban areas slept less than six hours each night. Furthermore, 29 percent of these urbanites were dissatisfied with the quality of their nighttime rest.
Christmas In Grimsby City Centre, UK
Infinite Amount Of Concrete…
"Ocean Access" + Suburbs In Florida
It's Hard To Capture In Two Photos, But Here Is A Brand New KFC Sat In The Middle Of Cleared Rainforest In Malaysia, Ready For A Development To Be Built Around It
Trying To Cross The Street? Bummer. The Street Is Only For Cars. Tehran
A Lovely Day For A Picnic...
As someone who grew up in a big coal and industry city in between other big coal and industry cities, I can relate and say that those small green spots and the view on industry are not as bad as this picture seems. You get used to it and if you move, you kind of even miss it. It has some weird sense of peace.
Each Of Those Houses With A Garden Are £1+ Million. The Grass In All Gardens Is Astroturf
A Homeless Man Sleeps Next To A 50 Gallon Drum Of Burning Scavenged Wood In Front Of The World Trade Center Under Construction, New York City, 1970
Vorkuta, Russia. The Coldest City In Europe (Lowest Temperature Ever Recorded At -52 C)
Jakarta's Chinatown 1940s vs. Now
No Need To Worry, Elite Architects Were At Work Here
Advertisement On A Commercial Building, South Korea
One Of The Worst Traffic And Pollution In The World. Tehran, Iran
I Just Want To Get To The Other Side Of The Highway Man
In the Netherlands it's the other way round. You can get anywhere in a city in 5 minutes by bicycle, but it will take you 30 minutes by car to get there.
A Spiral Parking Lot Somewhere In Chongqing, China
Duisburg, Also Known As The Ugliest City In Germany
The Entrance To A Shopping Mall That Is Still Alive And Well, Despite The Visual Evidence To The Contrary
One More Lane Will Solve This. Cairo
The sign says Carve Your Getaway. , Yup gonna need to carve out of that traffic 🙄
An Apartment In Istanbul Is Attached To Another Building
Abu Eir, Alexandria, Egypt
White And Beige Nebraska *oc
Note: this post originally had 85 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
Most of these pictures give me anxiety. So many people, so cramped, I'd die. I'm already stressed about having to deal with one neighbour, I can't imagine having to deal with so many people.
As depressing as the number of homeless Americans in full time employment?
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We are too many. Make child-free the norm. Children are luxury bones.
Yes Anna. My thoughts exacrtly. Too many humans. I am child-free, 38.
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Simple observation to all those pictures is "humans are too much" - in case of poorer countries - too much humans in general. Less childrem = less crowd. Noone needs 17 children. - in case of Murrica - too much cars and too much square meters of housing per person. You do not need McMansion and 4 cars for one family of 3.
17 children is hardly the standard. Cities grow bigger, because we want things. It's what we do, we live and we want things and then we die. There's no use deary. It just is.
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This was so depressing. I am very thankful for where I live, something I take for granted every day.
"By 2050, it's projected that more than two-thirds of us will reside in urban areas." Because we will have paved over so much more of our lands. The only way to stop this is birth control. Free birth of any type to anyone and everyone who wants it. No lectures, no pamphlets, no sermons, no questions. That could save the planet and our species.
That, and putting iron oxide in the ocean's dead zones. Fertilizer and manure end up in the ocean every year, adding extra nitrogen and etc. But iron only gets into the ocean at the normal rate. Plants, like algae, need both. They use up all the nitrogen and run out of iron. So, adding iron would super-charge the ocean's ability to produce oxygen and trap Co2. Currently, the ocean is already where we get most of our oxygen and stuff, so this would be huge
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I feel like there's no way someone can argue that climate change is a myth or that humans aren't affecting the planet any more than Mother Nature with these pictures. It seems like right here is the very exact irrefutable proof of our negative and altering effect on the planet... But I know the are those out there who will still deny it with every ounce of their faith and conviction.
Brutalist architecture should be torn down and rebuilt in a more human way
This makes me glad I bought the lot beside my house, so I could build absolutely nothing on it!
You SHOULD build on it though, or at least, plant on it. Create your own Allotment, that way you end up with fresh tasty veg, and doing something great for the environment. (and also that feeling of fulfilment at the success of growing your own food, but that might just be me. I grow a lot of herbs etc even though my garden is small x3)
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This is our future 🙂 However, it is possible to change it. The main problem here is overpopulation and low standard of life. Wanna fix it? Start thinking outside the box. Our economy is old and outdated. It's based on infinite profit and population growth. Even a child can tell you it's impossible. It worked in the past but it doesn't anymore for obvious reasons. What will replace it? That is something to think about. Overpopulation is harder to tackle because people take freedom to have offsprings very seriously and not about to let go. It's a cocktail of religion, tradition and culture. However, it doesn't have to be a strict and monitored population control. If a proper education is used then it is possible to overcome this problem. The main problem is to unite the whole world to take action.
Go watch the opening animated sequence of The Fate Of Irony. It perfectly encapsulates the soulless mass housing units we see more and more frequently.
People! Stop making people, then will be less urban hell, less global problems, less of any s**t. Why nobody make such commercials?
But by all means, keep popping out kids into existence on this miserable planet. They'll surely thank you when their in s**t to their knees fighting for basic survival necessities
These remind me of the current Beijing Winter Olympics with the nuclear power plant in the background.. FOREIGN202...508672.jpg 
Again . . . fewer people, less crap like this. Birth control is EVERYTHING!
The population of the 75 largest cities in the world is nearly 1 billion. Their combined land area is about the same as New Mexico, population 2 million, or Bulgaria, population 7 million. What you see is often the result of state policies to move people into cities, where they are easily controlled. (Notice the abundance of cities shown in China, Russia, Egypt, Iran, etc.) Amazingly but not at all coincidentally, these nations have been about the worst at preserving natural areas. Also, the most densely populated city in the world is a suburb of Paris, which attracts people who are clearly "in the 1%."
I'm reminded I need to be grateful everyday for the end terrace(former council house) with a bit of wild garden in front and back that I share with two felines...
Human population expected to peak at ten billion around the year 2050. It will get worse, then slowly better.
This is the problem. Overpopulation. I keep saying. Have 2 kids not 4 or 5.
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Nobody's "dunking" on anyone except the cheap, lazy governments who built these monstrosities.
Load More Replies... What? I lived in housing like that, I wasn't happy with those circumstances although I appreciated the nearby facilities and public transport. A lot of this is also depressing because there is no way to get around. People are just writing down what it looks like to them. There's nothing elitist about not wanting to live in one building with 18000 neighbors so closeby or having to walk 35 minutes to cross the street.
Load More Replies... Most of these pictures give me anxiety. So many people, so cramped, I'd die. I'm already stressed about having to deal with one neighbour, I can't imagine having to deal with so many people.
As depressing as the number of homeless Americans in full time employment?
Load More Replies... We are too many. Make child-free the norm. Children are luxury bones.
Yes Anna. My thoughts exacrtly. Too many humans. I am child-free, 38.
Load More Replies... Simple observation to all those pictures is "humans are too much" - in case of poorer countries - too much humans in general. Less childrem = less crowd. Noone needs 17 children. - in case of Murrica - too much cars and too much square meters of housing per person. You do not need McMansion and 4 cars for one family of 3.
17 children is hardly the standard. Cities grow bigger, because we want things. It's what we do, we live and we want things and then we die. There's no use deary. It just is.
Load More Replies... This was so depressing. I am very thankful for where I live, something I take for granted every day.
"By 2050, it's projected that more than two-thirds of us will reside in urban areas." Because we will have paved over so much more of our lands. The only way to stop this is birth control. Free birth of any type to anyone and everyone who wants it. No lectures, no pamphlets, no sermons, no questions. That could save the planet and our species.
That, and putting iron oxide in the ocean's dead zones. Fertilizer and manure end up in the ocean every year, adding extra nitrogen and etc. But iron only gets into the ocean at the normal rate. Plants, like algae, need both. They use up all the nitrogen and run out of iron. So, adding iron would super-charge the ocean's ability to produce oxygen and trap Co2. Currently, the ocean is already where we get most of our oxygen and stuff, so this would be huge
Load More Replies... I feel like there's no way someone can argue that climate change is a myth or that humans aren't affecting the planet any more than Mother Nature with these pictures. It seems like right here is the very exact irrefutable proof of our negative and altering effect on the planet... But I know the are those out there who will still deny it with every ounce of their faith and conviction.
Brutalist architecture should be torn down and rebuilt in a more human way
This makes me glad I bought the lot beside my house, so I could build absolutely nothing on it!
You SHOULD build on it though, or at least, plant on it. Create your own Allotment, that way you end up with fresh tasty veg, and doing something great for the environment. (and also that feeling of fulfilment at the success of growing your own food, but that might just be me. I grow a lot of herbs etc even though my garden is small x3)
Load More Replies... This is our future 🙂 However, it is possible to change it. The main problem here is overpopulation and low standard of life. Wanna fix it? Start thinking outside the box. Our economy is old and outdated. It's based on infinite profit and population growth. Even a child can tell you it's impossible. It worked in the past but it doesn't anymore for obvious reasons. What will replace it? That is something to think about. Overpopulation is harder to tackle because people take freedom to have offsprings very seriously and not about to let go. It's a cocktail of religion, tradition and culture. However, it doesn't have to be a strict and monitored population control. If a proper education is used then it is possible to overcome this problem. The main problem is to unite the whole world to take action.
Go watch the opening animated sequence of The Fate Of Irony. It perfectly encapsulates the soulless mass housing units we see more and more frequently.
People! Stop making people, then will be less urban hell, less global problems, less of any s**t. Why nobody make such commercials?
But by all means, keep popping out kids into existence on this miserable planet. They'll surely thank you when their in s**t to their knees fighting for basic survival necessities
These remind me of the current Beijing Winter Olympics with the nuclear power plant in the background.. FOREIGN202...508672.jpg
Again . . . fewer people, less crap like this. Birth control is EVERYTHING!
The population of the 75 largest cities in the world is nearly 1 billion. Their combined land area is about the same as New Mexico, population 2 million, or Bulgaria, population 7 million. What you see is often the result of state policies to move people into cities, where they are easily controlled. (Notice the abundance of cities shown in China, Russia, Egypt, Iran, etc.) Amazingly but not at all coincidentally, these nations have been about the worst at preserving natural areas. Also, the most densely populated city in the world is a suburb of Paris, which attracts people who are clearly "in the 1%."
I'm reminded I need to be grateful everyday for the end terrace(former council house) with a bit of wild garden in front and back that I share with two felines...
Human population expected to peak at ten billion around the year 2050. It will get worse, then slowly better.
This is the problem. Overpopulation. I keep saying. Have 2 kids not 4 or 5.
Load More Replies... Nobody's "dunking" on anyone except the cheap, lazy governments who built these monstrosities.
Load More Replies... What? I lived in housing like that, I wasn't happy with those circumstances although I appreciated the nearby facilities and public transport. A lot of this is also depressing because there is no way to get around. People are just writing down what it looks like to them. There's nothing elitist about not wanting to live in one building with 18000 neighbors so closeby or having to walk 35 minutes to cross the street.
Load More Replies...