Architecture that was at its prime in the 1970s has slowly fallen into decline and often ruin thanks to decades of neglect, especially in America’s poorest and most racially segregated communities, including Gary, Detroit, Camden and Harlem. Many of these structures were historically significant, built between the late 1880s and the 1920s, but when no budget exists to care for them and entire cities are left behind by economic progress, the forces of nature and decay take over.

In a potent visual representation of poverty in America’s urban centers and the loss of historic architectural character via demolition, Chilean-born photographer Camilo José Vergara has spent the last 40+ years documenting the downfall of dozens of structures and city streets. The resulting series, ‘Tracking Time,’ is a time-lapse in slow motion, photographing the same buildings once every few years.

One old shop in Harlem gets painted several times over, has its stained glass windows knocked out, loses a facade to an ugly garage door and is split up into multiple smaller businesses before finally being boarded over and transformed into a mini-mall-style church in 2014.

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A massive brick building in South Bronx becomes modest row houses, while The Ransom Gillis House in Detroit (top) sinks into the ground, its bricks falling in clumps, the roof caving in, ivy and trees taking over. It’s almost completely obscured by greenery before a restoration brings it back to its former glory.

But other stories aren’t so positive, since people care more about mansions than they do about public housing projects, row houses, and modest residential neighborhoods. Occasionally, Vergara ventures inside to show us that even though the facades still look beautiful, like that of the former Camden Free Public Library, the interiors are utterly destroyed.

It can be a heartbreaking journey but also a fascinating one, watching some of these structures remain the same for many years while the world changes around them before transforming into something new. And some do manage to endure.

Among the rusting vestiges of Europe’s Industrial Revolution, this 20-mile relic of a railroad in Paris has been abandoned since 1934, and while it has been retaken by nature in the ensuing decades, it will likely disappear altogether as the city grows. Photographer Pierre Folk has spent the last few years capturing what remains of ‘La Petite Ceinture,’ known as ‘Little Belt’ in English.

Completed in the 1860s, the railroad carried passengers around the City of Light until the underground metro system and personal automobile made it obsolete. At its peak, it was considered a hallmark of progress, with transfers to other Paris railway networks completed by horse-drawn carts. But once it was decommissioned, access was restricted, turning it into a sort of post-apocalyptic time capsule.

In the eighty years since it was last in use, La Petite Ceinture has become a habitat for at least 70 different animal species and host to over 200 varieties of plants. Folk’s photographs reveal a strange sort of in-between phase in which this stretch of railway in such a vibrant, metropolitan city is nearly forgotten, tangled with ivy.

As popular elevated parks like the High Line in New York City and Paris’ own Promenade Plantee prove, it likely won’t stay this way for long. Proposals have already been put forth to transform the rail from its current eerily quiet state into public space. Says Folk, “As a river, its shores constantly change over time, but it persists… an intimate place where past and modernity make their acquaintance.”

There are many reasons why cities are abandoned; some, like the ghost towns of the American West, have become tourist destinations while others have been condemned or simply forgotten. These 20 abandoned cities of the world share an eerie, haunted quality that is part of what makes them so fascinating. For more amazing abandoned places by region visit the WebUrbanist abandonments archive. For more deserted towns and other derelict places check out our collection of 100+ Abandoned Buildings, Places and Property.

1. The Kowloon Walled City was located just outside Hong Kong, China during British rule. A former watchpost to protect the area against pirates, it was occupied by Japan during World War II and subsequently taken over by squatters after Japan’s surrender. Neither Britain nor China wanted responsibility for it, so it became its own lawless city.

Its population flourished for decades, with residents building labyrinthine corridors above the street level, which was clogged with trash. The buildings grew so tall that sunlight couldn’t reach the bottom levels and the entire city had to be illuminated with fluorescent lights. It was a place where brothels, casinos, opium dens, cocaine parlors, food courts serving dog meat and secret factories ran unmolested by authorities. It was finally torn down in 1993 after a mutual decision was made by British and Chinese authorities, who had finally grown wary of the unsanitary, anarchic city and its out-of-control population.

2. The small village of Oradour-sur-Glane, France, is the setting of unspeakable horror. During World War II, 642 residents were massacred by German soldiers as punishment for the French Resistance. The Germans had initially intended to target nearby Oradour-sur-Vayres and mistakenly invaded Oradour-sur-Glane on June 10th 1944. According to a survivor’s account, the men were herded into barns where they were shot in the legs so they would die more slowly. The women and children, who had been held in a church, all perished when their attempt to escape was met by machine-gun fire. The village was razed by the Germans afterward. Its ruins still stand today as a memorial to the dead and a reminder of the events that took place.

3. Kolmanskop is a small town located a few miles inland from the port of Laderitz in Namibia. Windswept sand has made its way into nearly every building in the town, which was once a diamond mining town and abandoned in 1956 as diamond demand declined and richer sources of diamonds were discovered in other areas. Its only residents are now birds, hyenas and other animals.

4. Humberstone, Chile was a booming town from the 1920s until the early 40s, enjoying the wealth and prosperity that came from mining and processing nitrate, also known as saltpeter. Once synthetic saltpeter was invented, the town began to decline and experienced a slow outpouring of residents until it finally lay empty in 1961. Since then, the blowing sand from surrounding deserts has made its way into the remaining buildings, which still house machinery and furniture. The town has been named a World Heritage Site and will likely be preserved as a historical monument.

5. Wittenoom, Australia was once home to 20,000 people in its mining heyday. The asbestos mining town effectively shut down after the health risks of asbestos became clear in the 60s, and 1,000 residents died of asbestos-related illnesses. The remaining residents left, aside from the 8 people who still live there today. The city is littered with the blue fibers of asbestos, which can be seen in the bottom left photo above.

6. Only 30 minutes from the south side of Chicago lies Gary, Indiana, established as a company town for U.S. Steel in 1906. When the steel industry took a downturn in the 60s, the town became depressed and has never recovered. Gary, which has oft received the dubious honor of the murder capital of the U.S., is beginning to see signs of revitalization and is still home to thousands of people, but by the looks of its downtown area you’d never know it.

7. Ruby, Arizona is one of the best preserved ghost towns in Arizona, but you can only gain access to it by helping in the restoration effort. It was founded as a mining camp, producing mostly copper, lead and zinc. At its peak in the mid 30s, Ruby’s population reached 1,200. The population diminished after the mine was closed in the 50s. The few buildings that remain include the jail, a schoolhouse, mine offices and a handful of homes.

8. The eerie city of Agdam, Azerbaijan was once a thriving city of 150,000 people. It was lost in 1993 during the Nagorno Karabakh war; though the city was never the setting of combat, it fell victim to vandalism while occupied by Armenians. The buildings are gutted and empty, with only the graffiti-covered mosque remaining intact. Agdam residents have moved to other areas of Azerbaijan, as well as into Iran.

9. Bodie State Historic Park in California is one of the many gold-mining ghost towns in the American West. The town of Bodie once had 10,000 residents during the gold rush; the last of its residents left during the 50s and 60s. Only a small part of the town still stands today, but what remains has been well preserved. Interiors remain as they were when Bodie became a National Historic Site in 1962, with goods stacked on the shelves. Bodie is now frequented by tourists, but its ghost town atmosphere is intact – there are no commercial facilities in the area.

10. Located south of Indore in the state of Madhya Pradesh, Mandu was once the capital city of a northern Indian Muslim state and has lain abandoned for over 400 years. The ancient city takes up a large plateau just above the Narmada River and is home to a dazzling array of ruins, including a royal palace and a mosque. The Nil Kanth Palace is an important pilgrimage point for devotees of the Hindu goddess Shiva. Today, the city’s only residents are gypsy tribes who live on the hilltop plateau.

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20 Abandoned Cities And Towns

The former Soviet Union has a complicated history that is told in part through some of its deserted infrastructure. From mining towns to oil-rig cities, many of these structures, towns and areas were abandoned suddenly and thus provide a kind of snapshot of Soviet life frozen in time. Others tell stories of economic and political upheaval and even nuclear events. From oil rig cities and deserted industrial towns to dazzling island fortresses and once-luxurious estates of the Soviet elite here are seven more amazing Soviet abandonments. For more Soviet abandonments (from gruesome gulags to submarine bases) check out part one of this series.

Abandoned Island Fortress: Fort Alexander sits abandoned on a man-made island off the shore of St. Petersburg. Constructed in the 1800s, the fort has over 100 cannon ports providing 360-degree defense. After the Crimean War it was initially used as a military storehouse before being converted by the Soviets into a dangerous plague research center due to its physical isolation from the mainland. The fort is now deserted and most of its interior objects have been stripped and metal has been melted down for other uses. Even now, however, visitors coming by boat (or snowmobile) are advised to wear a respirator and rubber boots.

Abandoned Sea City: In 1949 the world changed forever as oil was struck for the first time in the sea off the coast of Azerbaijan. Before long the first oil platform was built around this site but that wasn’t all: dorms, schools, stores and other structures were all built up around this rig forming a virtual city on the water. Ships were brought out and sunk to form the basis of a series of man-made islands. Connected by a network of bridges and other structures this community has dwindled and is now all but deserted with buildings falling back into the sea.

Abandoned Mine Complex: Unlike other Soviet mines in the Kyshtym region the ones in the photographs above at least aren’t radioactive. The ones shown here date back to the days of the Gulags and have been abandoned since the 1960s. A cooling tank explosion around that time contaminated almost 20 square miles around this and other local mines and caused the evacuation of nearly 300,000 residents. This incident was long hidden by the Soviet government before a scientist leaked the information in 1980. Other intrepid urban explorers, however, have braved even the nearby radioactive mines at their own risk.

Abandoned Industrial Town: Pyramiden is a classic model Soviet small blue-collar coal-mining town with a long history that was quickly and suddenly snuffed out. In the early 1990s it was concluded that Pyramiden was no longer profitable and its citizens were given a few short hours to pack and leave. Much like Chernobyl the result has been sad but fascinating: virtually everything was left behind from house plants to books on library shelves. Though there are plans to potentially renovate this ghost town for now it provides a picture of local life two decades ago.

Abandoned Soviet Estate: There are many abandoned estates scattered throughout Russia that are simply too remote to warrant restoration. As photographer Jason Grant points out, though, these are provide in many ways a more real experience of history for those who visit and photograph them. This particular estate in Belogorka survived the revolution and was only moderately damaged by a bomb in WWII. It was subsequently used as a scientific research institute and is now strewn with bottles and chemicals from these last tenants.

Abandoned Transportation: Throughout Russia and the former Soviet Union one can find a vast number of abandoned air, sea and land vehicles that have simply been left to rust rather than repurposed or recycled. In other parts of the world one would imagine they could find other uses for giant ships, disused fighter jets and entire train networks but here these things seem to fall through the cracks. Figures next to the planes and boats shown above bring home the enormous scale of these abandoned relics of Soviet transportation.

Other Abandoned Areas: The region known as Abkhazia is a semi-independent zone within Georgia in which a great deal of transportation and other infrastructure has been deserted in recent decades due to a lack of funds. Shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union the region came into conflict with the rest of Georgia as Georgians pushed toward independence from Russia. Today, Russia issues passports for Abkhazians, pays their retirement pensions and provides citizenship to many of the people. Nonetheless, since the fall of the USSR the local budgets have not been enough to maintain many buildings and train networks as illustrated by the images above.

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7 Engineering Wonders of the World
7 Urban Wonders of the World
7 Wonders of Modern Green Design and Technology

Amazing Abandoned Cities, Places and Property of the World

7 Abandoned Wonders of the World
7 (More!) Abandoned Wonders of the World
7 Abandoned Wonders of America
7 (More!) Abandoned Wonders of America
7 (Even More!) Abandoned Wonders of America
7 Abandoned Wonders of the Former Soviet Union
7 (More!) Abandoned Wonders of the Former Soviet Union
7 Abandoned Wonders of the European Union

Have you ever wondered what really happened to that mall in The Blues Brothers or where Tarkovsky filmed those jarring and surrealistic scenes in Stalker? While many urban abandonments are left alone or the occasional subject of urban exploration, some remarkable buildings and complexes have become famous (or infamous) after being used as film sets for cult classics or contemporary major motion pictures. Here are five films that made use of deserted buildings ranging from suburban malls and insane asylums to an unfinished nuclear reactor. To learn more or see larger original images click the movie-titled links below each film clip.

The Blues Brothers: Did you ever wonder if they really destroyed a mall to make one of the most famous scenes in this film? As it turns out, the infamous mall car chase scene did in fact wreak havoc on what remained the (yes, recently deserted) Dixie Square Mall. Fans of the film may enjoy the above video clip which shows the chase scene moment by moment from the movie reenacted in a real vintage police car, in the same mall and with the same camera shots (now fully deserted and falling apart). For more images of this abandoned mall visit DeadMalls.

12 Monkeys: This retrofuturistic film was shot across a number of prominent locations from mansions and power plants in Baltimore, Maryland to jails and convention centers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvia. One of its more eerie settings, however, was the Westport Power Generation Station. This site was used to create some of the more chilling interior shots set in the post-apocalyptic future from which the movie’s protagonist originates. Even from these seemingly benign shots it is easy to see how they could create the steampunkish settings required for the film. [Article update: other power station locations used in the filming of 12 Monkeys can be found here, here and here. Thanks Dave!]

The Abyss: The underwater scenes in this gripping over-two-hour science-fiction thriller were filmed at the Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant in South Carolina. Millions of gallons of water were brought in to fill existing unfinished structures on the site and The Abyss thus broke the record for the largest underwater movie set in the world. The power plant was never completed but the complex contained a turbine pit and incomplete containment vessel were used as primary and secondary sets and on-site warehouses for interior shots. For more images of this amazing movie set and a larger version of the one above check out HistoricDecay.

Session 9: This 2001 horror movie was shot almost entirely in the abandoned rooms and halls of the deserted Danvers State Hospital. In an unusual twist, the film’s overt premise is the remodeling of this real-life asylum rather than pretending the building is some other structure for the purposes of the movie. While many of the details are, of course, changed for cinema the building did provide a remarkably appropriate setting for the dramatic action of the film. The Danvers State Hospital is also rumored to be the inspiration for H.P. Lovecraft’s own Arkham hospital which, in turn, was the inspiration for the Akrham Asylum. Despite increased security many deserted-building urban explorers found their way into this abandoned building complex after the film popularized the site. During the demolition of many of the older buildings and construction of new buildings on the site in 2006 a mysterious fire laid waste to much of the complex and disabled an on-site web camera filming the grounds. For more images and information you can visit Opacity (the source of the bottom two images displayed above).

Stalker: This infamous Tarkovsky film is notorious not only for its impact on cinema but also for the strange and sad stories surrounding its filming. The movie was shot primarily in and around Tallinn, Estonia near chemical factories, power plants and other dangerous locations. Dreadful allergic reactions by the crew and Tarkovsky’s own cancer were blamed on the poisonous liquids pouring downstream from these nearby structures. When the film crew returned to Moscow much of the film was found to be improperly developed and the Soviet government, which frowned on the theistic undertones of Tarkovsky’s work, was suspect of having a hand in mishandling the film. Many Russian urban explorers and abandoned building hobbyists actually call themselves “stalkers” or variants of the word as a kind of tribute to the film and its setting, many of which have since been demolished. Know of other abandoned buildings used in films? Contact us with information for a follow-up article and we’ll thank you with a link! Also, thanks to Cineleet for helping compile this first collection of amazing abandonments from films.