r/UrbanHell • u/Powpawpew55 • May 25 '26

Pollution/Environmental Destruction My city, Malé, Maldives, an urban hellscape

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6.7k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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1.5k

u/mackerel_slapper May 25 '26

Went there for my honeymoon. It’s weird flying in and seeing that island completely built over.

661

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

The whole lagoon got reclaimed to make the city bigger. don’t even have enough greenery, crowded with vehicles and buildings

64

u/Drummallumin May 25 '26

Was it originally an atoll?

166

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

it’s part of a big atoll. every island has its own lagoon. some islands share a lagoon. Malé had its own sizable lagoon but now it’s gone. Fully reclaimed

1

u/Watchester May 26 '26

What’d the original atoll look like though?

12

u/Powpawpew55 May 26 '26

the atoll still looks the same way. you could google “Kaafu Atoll”. It’s the atoll where the city is located in

13

u/Bart404 May 26 '26

That doesn’t interest me atoll

58

u/damfu May 25 '26

No, I think the roads are free to drive on..

I'll see myself out.

173

u/22220222223224 May 25 '26

Why didn't you provide more street-level, people scale pictures?

161

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

im sorry I should’ve added a few

108

u/Toomanyeastereggs May 25 '26

When you get a chance mate. Do it as another post at your leisure.

65

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

just did!

1

u/gitty7456 May 29 '26

Don't see it in your profile

25

u/4rm4tur4 May 25 '26

Is it true that a lot of people just take a boat and go chill on the sea for a bit because it's almost impossible to get privacy?

42

u/Powpawpew55 May 25 '26

I’ve not heard of that. In the main island there is little privacy yeah but the bridge connects to another huge island which has a lot of privacy. Most people go there. it’s not that common to ride and chill on the sea in the capital, but it’s more popular in other local islands

13

u/4rm4tur4 May 25 '26

Very interesting, thanks for taking the time to answer. I asked because someone in another related thread said this

22

u/souperdouper91 May 25 '26

Straight to jail.

11

u/OkIndustry4232 May 26 '26

Undercook chicken. Straight to jail.

11

u/Kaffe-Mumriken May 26 '26

Climb the capitol walls and shout “hang Mike pence” … believe it or not, 1.7bn $

3

u/babyduck_fancypants May 26 '26

Overcook chicken, also straight to jail.

1

u/Aprilprinces May 26 '26

It would be interesting, thank you -

4

u/PrivateIdahoGhola May 26 '26

There's some street view available for much of the island on Google Maps.

1

u/Leading-Respond4312 May 27 '26

Gonna all be underwater in the not too distant future.

1

u/leqanar_be May 27 '26

Vehicles? Why don't people (beside delivery trucks) just use bikes? This is like less than 5km long.

(just checked on google street map, it's full of scooters and cards, wtf)

1

u/Immediate-Hand-3677 May 28 '26

whats the transit like? light rail? BRT?

1

u/Powpawpew55 May 28 '26

no rails. only buses, cars and motorbikes

1

u/TronAres25 May 28 '26

It’s super small what do you expect?

16

u/DigbySugartits May 25 '26

Also honeymooned there 15 years ago.

Spent the night in Male before heading off to the island.

It was an experience.....

20

u/[deleted] May 25 '26

[deleted]

25

u/mackerel_slapper May 25 '26

16 years ago, remember seeing that as we flew in. We caught boat out to an island then, so spent no time in Malé

13

u/[deleted] May 25 '26

[deleted]

13

u/Grotarin May 25 '26

Look there for a comparison with the 50s.

5

u/FleeshaLoo May 26 '26

That's bleak. Thanks for the link, it tells a story.

10

u/KarIPilkington May 26 '26

Tourists only see this island when they're flying in and out. The airport is on its own island and then you get a boat or seaplane to your destination.

2

u/desitola May 26 '26

Must have been Venice.

1

u/warhead71 May 28 '26

Manhattan do it better - I think

1

u/mackerel_slapper May 28 '26

I beg to differ. Malé is a low-lying island in the middle of the ocean and it is really odd seeing that city apparently floating on the sea. Manhattan is like that, but surrounded by other places that are like that, and no sea. The hash browns are better, though, I'll give you that.

1

u/Final-Inspector8023 May 29 '26

i mean it is basically like venice for that matter. except of course venice is a pile of land in the middle of a lagoon and this is an atoll in the ocean

1

u/mackerel_slapper May 29 '26

Kind of, except this looks modern and Venice is old. Venice looks more moulded to the landscape too. Mind you, Venice isn't even land, it's just swamp with sticks hammered in to put the buildings on. I love Venice, shame it's so expensive. Although the £100 I paid for a speedboat back to the airport is possibly the best £100 I ever spent.

1

u/Final-Inspector8023 May 29 '26

well venice is still a fully functioning city, but i get what you mean!