Humans have established settlements in the strangest of places, from the base of an extremely lethal volcano in Japan to a platform of oil rigs built on the remains of seven ships in the Caspian Sea. These 7 cities are among the weirdest and most unusual in the world, requiring residents to wear gas masks or sort through trash for a living.
Eerie black-and-white images depict groups of people – including a wedding party – gazing at the camera through the darkened eyeholes of old-fashioned gas masks. Were these created for some kind of movie or photography project? Nope. Wearing gas masks was part of everyday life for residents of Miyake-jima, a lethal settlement at the base of the extremely active Mount Oyama volcano in Japan. The volcano spews sulphuric gas even when it isn’t in the midst of an eruption, an air raid siren warning inhabitants to put on their masks when the levels get too high. An eruption in June 2000 forced the evacuation of all residents, and the island was closed to human habitation for more than four years, but nearly 3,000 people decided to return in 2005, retaking the abandoned structures they had left behind. A third of the island is still off limits to human travelers, and residents must undergo mandatory health checks.
Neft Dashlari (Oily Rocks) is – was – a Soviet city in the middle of the Caspian sea. Just after World War II, as Russia tried to recover from the Nazi invasion, the nation’s government began to daydream about the vast oil reserves believed to be far below the sea in what is now the independent state of Azerbaijan. In 1949, Soviet engineers struck top-quality oil at a depth of 1,100 meters below the seabed at a location mariners called “Black Rock.” Certain that they had found the answer to their problems, the Russian government began to build an entire city with the foundation consisting of seven sunken ships including ‘Zoroaster,’ the world’s first oil tanker. They constructed a network of oil platforms linked by hundreds of miles of roads, filled with apartment blocks for 5,000 oil workers, a cinema and even a park. For a while, it was a ‘Stalinist utopia for the working class,’ but with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the discovery of more accessible oil fields came neglect. Most of the workers left, and the waves began to claim the architecture. Today, a small number of oil workers continue to live and work there, and the settlement is closely guarded, but it’s only a matter of time before the entire network crumbles.
Highly dangerous for outsiders, Makoko is a shantytown in the Lagos Lagoon of Nigeria with a population of 250,000. The twisting canal system between hobbled-together houses has given sway to the tongue-in-cheek nickname ‘Venice of Africa,’ and while most the residents make a living from the traditional fisherman’s way of life, they’re also constantly at risk of disease from the cramped quarters as well as the threat of local gangs. What began as an 18th century village has ballooned thanks to an influx of new residents from Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.
In 2013, the Nigerian government declared Makoko illegal and scheduled it for demolition. Men with chainsaws cut through the stilts holding up homes, schools and churches. Left homeless, many residents had no choice but to live in their boats. Can the community be saved? One project that offers some hope for the future is Makoko Floating School by architecture firm NLE, an ached floating structure that can accommodate up to 100 adults, even in bad weather conditions. Currently a school, the design could also be used for events spaces, clinics or markets.
Just on the edge of the largest city in the Arab world lies Manshiyat Naser, better known as ‘Garbage City,’ where residents make a living sorting and processing Cairo’s refuse. Trash is stacked on sidewalks and rooftops, propped against walls within dwellings, and spread out across the floors. It may sound unpleasant and unsanitary, but for the Zabbaleen – literally ‘garbage people’ – it’s a way of life. They recycle 80% of the trash and feed the remaining organic matter to pigs in an incredibly efficient system that’s unrivaled anywhere else in the world. The city has no running water, sewers, electricity or official governing body; it was established by Coptic Christians known for herding swine within the city. However, the pigs were removed by the Egyptian government in 2009 due to the threat of swine flu, putting the Zabbaleen’s system in danger of falling apart. Without the pigs, managing the trash has become much more of a challenge, especially as Cairo produces more waste than ever with each passing year.
Watu wameanzisha makazi katika maeneo ya ajabu sana, kuanzia chini ya volkano yenye hatari sana nchini Japani hadi kwenye jukwaa la mashine za kuchimba mafuta lililojengwa juu ya mabaki ya meli saba katika Bahari ya Caspian. Miji hii 7 ni miongoni mwa miji ya ajabu na isiyo ya kawaida duniani, na inahitaji wakazi kuvaa vinyago vya gesi au kuchagua kupitia taka kwa ajili ya kuishi. Picha zenye kuogopesha za rangi nyeusi na nyeupe zinaonyesha vikundi vya watu - kutia ndani sherehe ya arusi - wakitazama kamera kupitia mashimo ya macho yenye giza ya vinyago vya zamani vya kuzuia gesi. Je, hizi ziliundwa kwa ajili ya aina fulani ya filamu au mradi wa kupiga picha? La hasha. Wenyeji wa Miyagi-jima, mji wa kijijini ulio chini ya volkano ya Oyama nchini Japani, walikuwa na tabia ya kuvaa vinyago vya kuzuia gesi. Volkano hiyo hutokeza gesi ya sulfuri hata inapokuwa nje ya mlipuko, na sauti ya mlio wa ndege inawaonya wakazi waanguke wanapokuwa na kiwango cha juu sana. Mlipuko wa volkano mnamo Juni 2000 ulilazimisha kuhamishwa kwa wakazi wote, na kisiwa hicho kilifungwa kwa makazi ya binadamu kwa zaidi ya miaka minne, lakini karibu watu 3,000 waliamua kurudi mnamo 2005, wakichukua tena miundo iliyokuwa imeachwa nyuma. Sehemu ya tatu ya kisiwa hicho bado haijapunguzwa na watu, na wakazi wanapaswa kufanyiwa uchunguzi wa lazima wa afya. Neft Dashlari (Oily Rocks) ni <unk> ilikuwa <unk> mji wa Sovieti katikati ya bahari ya Caspian. Baada ya Vita Kuu ya Pili ya Dunia, Urusi ilijaribu kupona kutokana na uvamizi wa Nazi, serikali ya taifa ilianza kuota ndoto kuhusu akiba kubwa ya mafuta ambayo inaaminika kuwa chini ya bahari katika kile ambacho sasa ni serikali huru ya Azerbaijan. "Mwaka 1949 wahandisi wa Urusi walipata mafuta ya hali ya juu katika kina cha mita 1,100 chini ya bahari katika eneo ambalo mabaharia waliita ""Mwamba mweusi"" na kwa uhakika kwamba walikuwa wamepata jibu la matatizo yao, serikali ya Urusi ilianza kujenga mji mzima na msingi ulioundwa na meli saba zilizozama, ikiwa ni pamoja na Zoroaster, meli ya kwanza ya mafuta duniani." Wakajenga mtandao wa majukwaa ya mafuta yaliyounganishwa na mamia ya maili ya barabara, na kujaa majengo ya wafanyakazi wa mafuta 5,000, sinema na hata bustani. Kwa muda, ilikuwa "utopia wa Stalin kwa ajili ya darasa la wafanyakazi", lakini baada ya kuanguka kwa Muungano wa Sovieti na ugunduzi wa mashamba ya mafuta yanayoweza kufikiwa zaidi, iliachwa. Wafanyakazi wengi waliondoka, na mawimbi yakaanza kuharibu usanifu-ujenzi huo. Leo, idadi ndogo ya wafanyakazi wa mafuta wanaendelea kuishi na kufanya kazi huko, na makazi hayo yanalindwa kwa ukaribu, lakini ni suala la muda tu kabla ya mtandao wote kuporomoka. Makoko ni mji wa makazi madogo katika Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria, na ina wakazi 250,000 Mfumo wa mifereji ya maji kati ya nyumba zilizojengwa pamoja umetoa jina la utani la "Venice ya Afrika" na wakati wakazi wengi wanaishi kwa njia ya maisha ya jadi ya wavuvi, pia wako katika hatari ya magonjwa kutoka kwa vitongoji vidogo na pia tishio la magenge ya ndani. Kijiji hicho kilichokuwa kijiji cha karne ya 18 kimekua kwa sababu ya kuwasili kwa wakazi wapya kutoka Lagos, mji mkubwa wa Nigeria. Serikali ya Nigeria ilitangaza Makoko kuwa ni eneo lisilo halali na kuipiga marufuku mwaka 2013. Wanaume wenye visagio vya umeme walipasua nguzo zilizokuwa zikiinua nyumba, shule, na makanisa. Wakiwa hawana makao, wakazi wengi hawakuwa na chaguo ila kuishi katika mashua zao. Je, jumuiya hiyo yaweza kuokolewa? Shule ya Makoko Floating School, iliyojengwa na kampuni ya usanifu NLE, ni shule ya kuelea ambayo inaweza kubeba watu wazima zaidi ya 100. Hivi sasa shule, kubuni inaweza pia kutumika kwa ajili ya matukio nafasi, kliniki au masoko. Karibu na mji mkubwa zaidi wa Kiarabu, Mshayat Nasr, unaojulikana kama Jiji la Takwimu, ni mji wa watu wanaofanya kazi ya kutenganisha na kusindika taka za Cairo. Takwimu zinaonyesha kwamba taka zimewekwa kwenye vijia na paa, zimewekwa kwenye kuta za nyumba, na zimesambazwa kwenye sakafu. Huenda ikaonekana kuwa jambo lisilo la kawaida na lisilo la usafi wa mwili, lakini kwa Wazabbaleen - kihalisi "watu wa taka" - ni njia ya maisha. Wao kuchakata 80% ya taka na kulisha mabaki ya nyenzo za kikaboni kwa nguruwe katika mfumo incredibly ufanisi kwamba ni unrivaled mahali pengine popote duniani. Jiji hilo halina maji, mifereji ya maji machafu, umeme au serikali rasmi; lilianzishwa na Wakristo wa Coptic wanaojulikana kwa kuchunga nguruwe ndani ya jiji. Hata hivyo, nguruwe hao waliondolewa na serikali ya Misri mwaka 2009 kwa sababu ya tishio la mafua ya nguruwe, na hivyo kuifanya mfumo wa Zabalini uwe katika hatari ya kuanguka. Bila nguruwe, kusimamia taka imekuwa changamoto kubwa, hasa kwa kuwa Cairo inazalisha taka nyingi zaidi kuliko wakati mwingine wowote.