102 Examples Of ‘Urban Hell’ That Don’t Look Real But Sadly Are (New Pics)
Some cities and the architecture there can make your jaw drop because of how impressive they look. But some others… Well, let's just say your jaw might drop because of a reaction far less positive than that. In the latter, you might be met with dirty streets, overcrowded neighborhoods, and buildings that resemble the set of an apocalypse-based movie more than it does someone’s home.
Today, we’re not focusing on beautiful cities, so if you’re a fan of incredible architecture, you might want to browse this list of architectural marvels instead. But if you’re curious to see what urban hell looks like, you’re in the right place, as we have quite a few pictures of it on today’s list. Scroll down to find them below.
This post may include affiliate links.
From West Berlin, Looking East Over The Berlin Wall's "Death Strip" In 1986
I remember the day the wall came down. I was only 9yo but I was starting to pay attention to the world. That was the biggest thing since Challenger.
60% Of The Things Posted Here Are Far From Being Ugly Or Urban Hell. It Seems That The Notion Of Urban Hell Varies Greatly Between People. This Is Urban Hell
Postman On His Kowloon Route, 1989
Kowloon Walled City was a fascinating place. A population of 1.3MILLION per square Kilometer. It was a lawless slum that must have been absolute hell to live in. the whole place was established as part of the same treaty that Established Hong Kong as a British protectorate. Short version, Kowloon was a weird loophole that neither side owned but it became a major conduit to move goods in and out of Communist China for about 50 years.
Jalousie In Port-Au-Prince, Haiti
I'm certainly not 'jalous' of those who live there
Immensity Of Los Angeles
People Living Next To A Helicoidal Street In Chongqing
Akihabara Is Like Is Like Website Without Adblock X2
Beautiful Bangladesh
I would love to understand the why of this - how come this happens, not just in Bangladesh, but plenty of other places in SE Asia. Does anyone know? If nothing else, that rubbish could be burnt to generate heat and then electricity. "Where there's muck, there's brass" and all that.
Apartment Blocks In Hong Kong
Nothing like a bit of individuality and space for a garden! Sarcasm, to be clear.
The View When I Leave My Building On A Winter Morning, Downtown Shanghai
What always gets me about chinas infrastructure is - how do you get your furniture up there easily? What if you have stuff that won’t fit in the entry way? Do the crane it up?
Outskirts Of Mexico City
Mariupol
Monster Building, Hong Kong
A Famous Bank In Pau, France
Hanoi, Vietnam
Dubai City Of Artificiality
Belo Horizonte, Brazil. 151 Days Without Rain. Swallowed By Smoke Of Criminal Fires All Over Brazil
This makes me think of all the people with breathing difficulties
Chaos Of All Sorts In Cairo, Egypt
Apartments Under An Overpass In Nanming District, Guyana, China
A Tree Fighting For Its Life In Hong Kong
South Bronx, New York City (1980s). Genuine Smiles Despite All That’s Around Them
Couldn't They Just Plant A Tree?
And the shape of the tree they cut out is currently planted on another street because lord knows actual trees are expensive s/
The Highway Bridge That Blatantly Cuts Of The Whole Historic City Centre Of Genoa, Italy From The Sea
Yes. Quite the shame actually that Genoa is basically cut pff from the sea by the SS1.
Norilsk, Russia
Hyesan. North Korea
Buildings Built On Sand Dunes In Concon, Chile
Particularly terrifying given that the area is prone to earthquakes and sand loves to get all unstable when the ground gets shaky...
In Cars We Trust
This is the USA. I don't know which particular city, but in a way that is irrelevant....because when Eisenhower put the highway system in this happened to many cities. For some reason it just didn't occur to those early highway planners that they could swerve around cities. So many communities were cut in half, creating defacto areas with less access to cultural assets like libraries, parks, government offices, etc...........To be clear, the highways were put in to facilitate the rapid movement of large scale military equipment and personnel. Making car travel easier was of secondary concern.
Chongqing China
Factories Loom Over A Graveyard In Louisiana's "Cancer Alley", An 85 Mile Stretch Of Polluted Towns
Concrete Flood Engulfs The Pyramids Of Giza
And most people still think that the pyramids are in the middle of the desert :-D
Cheboksary, Russia
Vorkuta Is A Coal-Mining Town In The Komi Republic, Russia
Casino Billboard Lights Up The Night Sky In Manila Philippines
Native Reserves In Canada
Juarez Roundabout
Kensington Philadelphia, Pa (United States Of America)
Mogadishu Looks Straight From Fallout
Historical Building (Grave) From 1800s Demolished Today To Create A Highway
I read the original post. Apparently: "Egypt, Cairo (Shafi'i cemeteries in old Egypt to be precise), Halim Pasha Dome." Why? For crying out loud, why do this?
A House In Between Highways In Thailand
Weird. No, not the image itself. But the fact there's no comments. If this was located in Anywhere, USA, there' would already be a dozen "America bad" comments, like several of the pics above.
View From A Classroom Of A College I Used To Go To. Moscow
I’m A Pilot, This Is Inland Southern Florida From Above
This is not urban? It looks blissfully suburban to me, with tons of space and greenery.
Anti-Homeless Solution In Tokyo, Japan
How is this a solution to anything? If it's supposed to stop squatters, they'll find somewhere else. A case of "if it's not on my patch, I don't have to do anything about it".
Gela, Sicily, Italy. The Amount Of Trash On This Otherwise Beautiful Island Really Surprised Me
The Capital City Of Louisiana, Baton Rouge Nicknamed Cancer Alley. Residents Of This Area Have A 95% Greater Chance Of Developing Cancer Compared To The Average American
Cairo, 2006
Bucharest, Romania
Shibam: The Ancient Mud Skyscraper City In The Heart Of Nowhere -Yemen
Most Definitely Been Posted Here Already But I've Always Beem Facinated By The Kowloon Walled City
I Lived On This Street 20 Years Ago, It Still Looks The Same
A Random Apartment In Singapore
Times Square Is Like Website Without Adblock
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, Ca. (Was Formerly A Vibrant Latino Community)
In 1949, the government of Los Angeles siezed hundreds of homes here by condemning them and declaring eminent domain, but not for a baseball stadium, but for a newer, government-controlled housing project. Pretty much everyone except the statist mayor hated the idea. After he was thrown out of office, nobody wanted to build the housing project that the neighborhood was destroyed in order to create. The stadium was built ten years later, after paying fair-market prices to buy out some additional homes.
New York City, 1982
Guangzhou
Cable Management In Bangladesh
Hong Kong The Concrete Jungle
You know when you watch a time travel movie where they come back from the Middle Ages and not much has changed in merry old England too much 😂 imagine the same movie premise but in China, pot time traveller would have a fit
Perfect Image To Show Wealth Disparity. London, England
How About A Fun Day At The Casino? Aberdeen, Scotland
"Genex Tower" - Western Gates Of Belgrade, Serbia
Vancouver, Canada
Toronto is much the same. The encampments get cleared periodically, which does nothing but create an endless cycle of movement from park to street corner to parkette to ravine to vacant lot and back again. Our three levels of government are unable (or rather unwilling) to cooperate on funding effective supports for unhoused people.
La Canada Real Madrid. 3rd World Conditions, Even USA Worst Areas Doesn't Look Like This
Cañada, not Canada. It's La Cañada Real, Madrid. No relationship with the soccer team.
Egypt’s New Capital From The Sky
Belchatow, Poland
Overpopulated Istanbul
Anaheim Stadium (1977)
More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Stadium. California apparently has a great climate, if you're an orange (the fruit, that is, not the president elect).
Queensbridge Houses, New York. The Largest Housing Projects In North America With 96 Buildings And 3142 Units Accommodating Over 7000 People
Acapulco, Mexico, 2 Hurricanes And Several Floodings In Less Than A Year Has Left The City In A Deplorable State
Noida, India
Dombóvár, A Small City In Hungary Cut Down Its 100 Year Old Chestnut Trees
According to machine translation, this was done to install better drains. The residents are Not Happy. https://index.hu/belfold/2023/08/01/dombovar-fasor-kivagas-helyiek-tiltakozas-gesztenyefak-vizelvezetes/
Cumberland, Scotland. Truly The UK's Most Horrible Place To Live
After a Google inspection, I'd say this is the nicest photo of the place.
Kaliningrad, Russia
Königsberg (East Prussia) was very badly damaged during the Second World War before being annexed by the Russian Soviet Federative Republic and renamed Kaliningrad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_K%C3%B6nigsberg_in_World_War_II and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_K%C3%B6nigsberg and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliningrad#World_War_II
A House In Saitama, Japan
Housing In Upper Manhattan, NYC
San Francisco, California, USA
Idiots blaming the liberals for a problem created by Republicans.
La Rinconada, Peru
Houston Wild
Rapunzel's Tower, Palermo, Italy
I Explored Various Abandoned Places On The Island Of Tenerife (Canaries), Spain (Oc)
This Apartment Building In Belgium
The plans got crumpled and the builders thought that was the way to build it
Novocherkassk, Russia
Dhaka
The Apartment My Friend Used To Live In – Dhaka, Bangladesh
I don’t even want to know how and why caged balconies became mandatory. But upside, you could really let your big indoor parrot just chill indoor and outdoor without a worry 😂
New York
My Lovely Country, Egypt!
Doha, Qatar
The UK Town Described As So Rough And Tough "Even The Seagulls Have Flick Knives". Grimsby
Margate, England
Baltimore, Maryland (United States Of America)
Living Under A Ramp. Tenerife. Spain
Kawaramachi Residential Building, Kawasaki, Japan - Designed By Sachio Otani In 1970
Early Spring In Siberia Is Disgusting
Place D'youville In Old Montreal, Canada
Somewhere In Poland
Hmm - could be worse. There are trees around and about, and it looks like a nice idea: one apartment on each floor, nice views, good ventilation. Possibly also: inadequate insulation and protection against damp. But maybe the designers and builders did their jobs properly.
A Town Where I Live In Failed To Gentrify. Tokyo, Japan
There is nothing wrong with this. Buildings look fine, the canal is clean. I’m not sure how this is failing to gentrify, nor why that’s inherently a problem
Somewhere Along The Trans-Siberian Railway, 2010
Liverpool, UK
I don't know the street in question, but: Liverpool City Council has, every now and then, done the right thing with this sort of street and offered up the houses for sale a nominal price if you move in and renovate the property. The structure of such houses tends to be solid, but they need insulation, modern heating systems, modern everything added.
Coventry University (UK) Looks Like A Prison Block
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Lithuania, Vilnius
Bucharest Centre
This is where I live, a little village called Studland, in the county of Dorset on England's south coast. studland-d...a6d623.jpg
Load More Replies...I'm surprised there were no pictures of Detroit or Gary, Indiana. From photos and films I've seen, I think the most soulless and depressing examples of "Urban Hell" would be in N.Korea and parts of Russia. Other places are condemned to this hell because of over population.
This is where I live, a little village called Studland, in the county of Dorset on England's south coast. studland-d...a6d623.jpg
Load More Replies...I'm surprised there were no pictures of Detroit or Gary, Indiana. From photos and films I've seen, I think the most soulless and depressing examples of "Urban Hell" would be in N.Korea and parts of Russia. Other places are condemned to this hell because of over population.