Accidental Jungles in the Middle of the City

Good night, friends!

I'd like to share some views of Porto... but from a different perspective. These were taken from a window of a high building and here you can have a glimpse of how some of the roofs and backyards of our city look like...

No, what you're seeing here is not a small forest. These are actually gardens from houses... a lot of these properties were left vacant decades ago and, since they are inhabitable, their owners left them to rot. So... over time, a small jungle has appeared in what used to be traditional backyards.

The houses who are occupied and with families living there have their backyards more or less maintained... but the other houses' backyards are a complete wreck. There's even a palm tree growing there! 🤭

If you're wondering why the owners left them like this... it's not because they are lazy or don't care at all. The reason is other: governmental regulations.

Since the houses are old, their plumbing and walls are a disaster. No one in their perfect mind wants to live there. The owners think it's not financially profitable to renew them so that they can rent them to a single family and they would prefer to demolish the buildings to construct apartments who could house more people.

But... the government doesn't allow it. The owners can't demolish the buildings unless they are deemed unsalvageable by the city hall. So... they wait... and wait... and wait... until the houses are completely wrecked by the passage of time and weather.

Eventually, those buildings are considered too unsafe and a security hazard and that's when the property owners have the green light to tear them down and make apartments like the ones you see in the photo below.

Many of these properties end up being a financial loss for their owners... and the ones who end up benefiting from them are their sons and grandsons, many years after the original owners died of old age. 🙄

These lands were supposed to be investments... and they become a financial problem for the people who buy them. This is not good for them nor for the city inhabitants, who have to wait until the city hall allows these properties to be usable again. Until that happens, they are an eye sore and a perfect environment for all kinds of animals to propagate... mostly rats. 😖

A little government is needed or else it would be an anarchy... I understand that. But some laws are just too restrictive and end up doing more damage than good. Maybe it's time to update these laws, so that the owners of such terrains can decide on their future instead of having to wait for 50 or 100 years to pass by, so they can use them again...? 🤔

Location	Porto - Portugal
Camera	Microsoft Lumia 950 XL
Photos	4 (Edited with GIMP)