Worst Cities in the World?

[huja]

Read and discuss . . .

Excerpt:

. . As I’ve already indicated, Asia doesn’t fare better. There are so many unattractive cities: Manila, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Pyongyang, Busan, Taipei, Port Moresby, Chongqing, Urumqi, Hohhot, and the champion: Shenzhen

Lucky me. I've lived in two of the mentioned cities, including "champion" Shenzhen. I've also visited another five of those.

Are these the world’s worst cities? - FT.com

[HowardCoombs]

Why is my beloved Guangzhou not on the list?

[jimbo]

I love Bangkok and given a choice I'd rather live there than HK

[East_coast]

I've lived in two of the mentioned cities, including "champion" Shenzhen.

Given that people from Dongguan go to Shenzhen for leisure pursuits and NO ONE goes to Dongguan unless they have to. I would suggest Dongguan to be many times worse than Shenzhen.

China is full of ugly, polluted cities.




Picking out ugly cities is great for headlines but there are so many charmless cities. That's the surprising bit.

SkyscraperCity XL

[huja]

I love Bangkok and given a choice I'd rather live there than HK

I think his list of Asian cities is a bit misguided. The author of the article also seems like terrible dinner company.

[Open Casket]

Given that people from Dongguan go to Shenzhen for leisure pursuits and NO ONE goes to Dongguan unless they have to. I would suggest Dongguan to be many times worse than Shenzhen.

China is full of ugly, polluted cities.

Prior to the prostitution crackdown a couple years ago, millions of people used to go to Dongguan..voluntarily.


I would also say that if I had to make a list of top ten ugly cities, they would all be in China.

Certainly not Saigon...I find Saigon one of the more interesting cities in Asia.

[henkka]

Prior to the prostitution crackdown a couple years ago, millions of people used to go to Dongguan..voluntarily.


I would also say that if I had to make a list of top ten ugly cities, they would all be in China.

Certainly not Saigon...I find Saigon one of the more interesting cities in Asia.

I love Saigon, all the caffees and in general laid back atmosphere in district 1 and 3 are awesome.

Also, how can Taipei be on the list ? Sure, the architecture might not be that great with all the rundown buildings but there is so much more to taipei than just the architecture. You got great bars and restaurants, hiking, bicycling by the river and the awesome u-bikes everywhere, not to forget the hotsprings. Unless you visit 101 you most likely will not run in to any chinese either.

[Open Casket]

I would take Busan off the list straight away. It is a beautiful city with temples, hiking, beaches and great food.

[civil_servant]

Taiwan has some terrible cities, except Taipei. It's where the KMT spent most of the money. If one ventures to other cities like Taichung, one has to walk between cars as sidewalks are impassible due to parked scooters, step over dogs, and take in the constant change of stench from street food vendors or completely polluted streams.

When started my cycling tour of Southern China after having lived in Taiwan I prepared myself for the worst, considering that Taiwan was a much is much wealthier society. I was pleasantly surprised how good Chinese cities were, bicycle paths everywhere, wide sidewalks, large shopping boulevards, massive squares, historical sights, etc. My cycling journey ended in Bangkok. Even though we arrived by bus in Bangkok at 6am to avoid heavy traffic, by 7 am I thought that this was the day we're going to die. Lived in Bangkok for a year and enjoyed all it's services, but in the end, I must confess I would've rather spent time in Kunming than there. Bangkok will choke you. Roadside pollution is terrible as highways and BTS cover the roads, thereby trapping pollution, there's very little green space, traffic is terrible to the point where you wondered why you took a taxi, rather than just walk there. Nonetheless, it's a great place to get out on the weekend, to be spent on a tropical island.

[Kinch]

Port Moresby is right up there for the truly epic Mistah Kurtz he dead level of violence against person and property

Life in PNG: violence and brutality inside - and outside - detention - Crikey

Picked a nice progressive (note the gratuitous mention of AU immigration detention issue) website's article so the usual chorus of $%^&-slinging virtue-signalling monkeys please take note and a deep breath before responding.

I quite like Jakarta apart from the traffic jams and pollution and occasional human bomb going off in your hotel lobby.

Whilst I have issues with the present security situation in Thailand and am not taken in by the 'Thai Smile' and all that Smooth as Silk nonsense, anybody who writes articles (and plenty of writers do) about Bangkok being some nasty monster city that eats people up, is clearly a sensationalist hack. There are plenty of wonderful 'hidden' places and sights in Bangkok - one just has to look for them.

OTOH, KL isn't exactly a hardship posting, but it does nothing for me.

And of all the Shit Hole Backwaters I've been to, Vientiane was by far the best and most charming Shit Hole Backwater. Go see it before the Chinese totally wreck it.