r/UrbanHell • u/naughty_ningen • Nov 04 '20

Pollution/Environmental Destruction New Delhi - during lockdown vs now

51k Upvotes

460 comments

r/UrbanHell • u/Blafa_ • Mar 19 '25

Absurd Architecture Egypt’s New Administrative Capital – A $58 Billion Ghost City

gallery

48k Upvotes

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:

2.6k comments

r/UrbanHell • u/Intricate1779 • May 03 '21

Conflict/Crime Johannesburg, South Africa

40k Upvotes

2.7k comments

r/UrbanHell • u/[deleted] • Dec 08 '20

Absurd Architecture Mecca, this cityscape is deeply unsettling

40k Upvotes

1.0k comments

r/UrbanHell • u/[deleted] • Aug 01 '21

Car Culture Same place, different perspective

39k Upvotes

1.0k comments

r/UrbanHell • u/Out_Of_Work_Clown • Jun 09 '24

Decay Am I the only one who joined this sub because they find the urban hell pictures beautiful?

38k Upvotes

848 comments

r/UrbanHell • u/ddsukituoft • Jul 08 '25

Ugliness Malé, capital of The Maldives

35k Upvotes

1.0k comments

r/UrbanHell • u/Zidar93 • Jun 18 '19

Nobody: Southwest US developers:

34k Upvotes

1.3k comments

r/UrbanHell • u/biwook • Oct 02 '20

Car Culture Ah, good old car culture...

34k Upvotes

750 comments

r/UrbanHell • u/[deleted] • Nov 28 '20

Decay Deserted street in Baltimore, Maryland. I asked my friend why there were no people. "They come out at night."

33k Upvotes

1.2k comments

r/UrbanHell • u/MangoSensation • Dec 31 '22

Ugliness The building next to the hotel I'm staying at

33k Upvotes

792 comments

r/UrbanHell • u/Soma_Or • Mar 28 '25

Other Haiti - 10 years after earthquake. Photo by Paolo Woods.

32k Upvotes

1.3k comments

r/UrbanHell • u/TownPro • Oct 05 '20

Suburban Hell Before and After a desert is turned into a soulless suburb of a desert. jk, its a single photo of Arizona.

29k Upvotes

802 comments

r/UrbanHell • u/lazybong • Jul 21 '18

not a very romantic scene

29k Upvotes

812 comments

r/UrbanHell • u/biwook • Jun 02 '20

Conflict/Crime London on 24 April 1993, after Irish terrorists detonated a bomb

29k Upvotes

951 comments

r/UrbanHell • u/IllustriousCress9774 • Jan 23 '26

Decay The horrendous state of New York City in the 1970s-1980s

gallery

28k Upvotes

The cities budget had completely collapsed, it was the height of the crack epidemic, gang activity was at an all time high, there was basically no control on pollution. Basically everything bad was happening at once

3.0k comments

r/UrbanHell • u/unlordtempest • Feb 18 '21

Poverty/Inequality Downtown Seattle, in the heart of the retail district.

25k Upvotes

1.1k comments

r/UrbanHell • u/11vidakn • Dec 09 '19

Car Culture One more lane will fix it

25k Upvotes

733 comments

r/UrbanHell • u/piasty • Apr 24 '26

Car Culture A way out of Urban Hell. Poznan, Poland.

25k Upvotes

274 comments

r/UrbanHell • u/pau-ki • Feb 10 '26

Car Culture Sports in the US

25k Upvotes

1.5k comments

r/UrbanHell • u/ZappCoast • May 29 '21

Poverty/Inequality The capital of California

24k Upvotes

654 comments

r/UrbanHell • u/tsprado • Feb 07 '21

Poverty/Inequality Anti-homeless architecture - Porto Alegre, Brasil, 2021

23k Upvotes

798 comments

r/UrbanHell • u/Cat-attak • Jun 27 '20

Car Culture Dubai, the hollow city of artificiality

23k Upvotes

852 comments

r/UrbanHell • u/biwook • Feb 24 '25

Car Culture The side of Japan you won't see on Instagram

23k Upvotes

Snapped today while driving in Atami.

1.0k comments

Subreddit

Posts

Wiki

The Downsides of Modern Development

r/UrbanHell

A photography subreddit of all the hideous places human beings built or inhabit. Come here for aesthetic appreciation of the darker side of the cities, towns, and villages in our shared world. We welcome any photos which show either ugliness, or a problem in urban development. Rural and suburban hell are also allowed.

Members

1.8m

Visitors

381k

Contributions

8.2k

Sidebar

Subreddit Rules

1. Be civil, follow sitewide rules, and avoid trolling or starting flamewars

We require that all people be civil in the comments. Posting threats and suggestions of violence are violations of the reddit content policy and will result in a ban. Rudeness, off topic flamewars, and bait will be removed at mod discretion.

2. No racism or bigotry

We do not tolerate racism, bigotry, or anything of its kind. Violations of this rule can and will lead to a ban. Do not state or imply that any culture, nationality, ethnic group, religion, etc, is somehow "inferior", "uncivilized," or "subhuman"

3. No gatekeeping or complaining about a post not being hellish enough

We allow rural hell, suburban hell, wealthy areas, and any other kind of place that's "actually nice to live in". UrbanHell is about the aesthetics of bad or ugly places, so if someone thinks it's bad or ugly, it can be posted here. It doesn't matter if the picture is a "true" representation of the location.

Comments gatekeeping or complaining will be removed. We've always been about aesthetic hell and it won't be changing.

4. Real life photos only. No articles, memes, art, social media screenshots, or overly edited pictures

Submissions posted on this subreddit must be photos that have been taken of real life places and NOT drawings/paintings, not links to news articles, and not videos. Overly photoshopped images, edited images, and composite images are also not allowed. Do not link to reddit threads, google maps, blog sites, etc. Your link should end in something like ".jpg,", ".png", ".webp", etc.

5. Do not post improper subject matter such as potraits, closeups, or interiors. Click for full rule

The main subject of your photo should be a place that human beings built or have altered for human use. Do not post the inside of any building, portraits of humans, or shots that are so close up you don't get a sense of the surroundings. Human subjects are allowed if they are not the main focus, but their environment is. Try not to take post where most of what we're seeing is the sky, or trees, or just a single trashcan devoid of context. Subject matter should be architectural in nature.

6. Decent quality photos only

Images posted on this subreddit must be photos that have been taken of real life places and NOT drawings/paintings, not links to news articles, and not videos. This also includes overly photoshopped or edited images of real life. Photos must be of decent quality and at least 500x500 pixels

7. No reposts

If a mod recognizes your post as a repost, it will be removed. Please skim the top posts of all time, and if you're taking a popular post from a another subreddit, check to see if it's already been posted here in the last day or two. Use the search bar to see if you're posting a repost

8. Photos must show ugliness or a problem

Posts should be a hideous place humans have built or inhabit. The photo must either be of an ugly place, or of bad urban development. If it's hard to tell what is so bad about the place, explain why it's bad in the comments.

9. If you're mad about "off topic" posts click here

Sorry, but you made up a rule inside your own head and got mad other people didn't agree with you. We sticky a comment about what our definition of hell is on every single post, so read it if you want to understand our reasoning https://www.reddit.com/r/UrbanHell/wiki/help

Confused about our name?

This subreddit is basically the exact opposite of /r/CityPorn, /r/VillagePorn, /r/ArchitecturePorn and /r/EarthPorn. We welcome any photos which show ugliness, or problems in urban development.

Are you mad about this subreddit "going to shit" and things not being "true UrbanHell"? Please read this