History Main / UrbanRuins

* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series has its protagonists visiting the ruins of cities such as [[VideoGame/Fallout1 Los Angeles]], [[VideoGame/Fallout2 San Francisco]], [[VideoGame/Fallout3 Washington D.C]], [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas Las Vegas]] and [[VideoGame/Fallout4 Boston]].

** "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E8TimeEnoughAtLast Time Enough at Last]]" ends in this setting, since the world was destroyed by [[WorldWarIII nuclear war]].
** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E66Two Two]]", the man and woman are the first people to set foot in the ruined city since the war that devastated the world five years earlier. They discover the skeletal remains of several people and two birds that someone kept as pets.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "Voices in the Earth", Professor Donald Knowles, Jacinda Carlyle, Archer and Bledsoe explore the 1,000-year-old decaying ruins of a city on the [[EarthThatWas dead Earth]].

* ''TabletopGame/Cyborg2022'' has G0 or Ground Zero, an area where some nukes went off. It is walled off from the rest of the city of Cy, and heading down there is still lethally dangerous--if the Nanophreaks that roam the sector, the pockets of nerve-gas or the radioactive space rocks don't do for you, then whatever makes [[HellIsThatNoise that noise]] at night will. Most of the place is waterlogged scrap and warped steel, but some of the oldest structures of Cy can still be found here, with scavengers, smugglers, cultists and opportunistic scientists being the only humans you'll find.

** Midway City is devastated by the Enchantress in ''Film/SuicideSquad'', and the members of Task Force X wander through the deserted city shortly after arriving.

* In ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds1898'', London is reduced to an empty city of with abandoned ruins, partially destroyed buildings, and an infestation of the extraterrestrial red weed.

* ''TabletopGame/CyBorg2022'' has G0 or Ground Zero, an area where some nukes went off. It is walled off from the rest of the city of Cy, and heading down there is still lethally dangerous--if the Nanophreaks that roam the sector, the pockets of nerve-gas or the radioactive space rocks don't do for you, then whatever makes [[HellIsThatNoise that noise]] at night will. Most of the place is waterlogged scrap and warped steel, but some of the oldest structures of Cy can still be found here, with scavengers, smugglers, cultists and opportunistic scientists being the only humans you'll find.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'':

* ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'': Some campaign missions return to Tarsonis, a city deliberately overrun by the Zerg in the first game. Ruined buildings, feral Zerg, and creep are everywhere.

* In the wake of the Cataclysm event and through ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'' Gotham is reduced to ruins, with nearly every building and bridge suffering structural damage and most of the taller ones having fallen over or been otherwise destroyed. Even after No-Mans Land is over entire sections of the city are condemned and roped off with caution tape, ''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]'' shows that the old opera house in in such a section even though it's only about three blocks from his parents' apartment which is in an area that's being repaired and is bustling with activity.

* ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'':

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': "The Day of the Doctor" depicts the capital of Gallifrey as the Daleks begin to destroy the planet. This destruction is what pushes the War Doctor past the GodzillaThreshold and leads him to use the Moment to end the Time War.

Cities are a great sign of societies' achievement. They're huge, filled with people, tall buildings, major civic infrastructure and hubs of business and government, which makes it narratively interesting to see them [[SceneryGorn torn apart and crumbling]]. Fire raining from the sky, buildings and bridges collapsing on each other, overturned cars lining the freeways, and evidence of the former homes--kitchen sinks and broken furniture--jutting out from the wreckage. There may be looter gangs, [[ZombieApocalypse zombies]], or monsters roaming the streets, depending on the genre.

When ApocalypseAnarchy is involved, it may also double as ViceCity. If there's a subway, expect a SinisterSubway. As is to be expected, this trope often overlaps with GhostCity, because most of the inhabitants have probably been killed by the environment. Can be a result of TrashTheSet, if the city in question was a major setting. RuinsOfTheModernAge is closely related, but the ruins don't necessarily have to be ''urban'', and Urban Ruins don't have to exist [[AfterTheEnd after society collapsed]].

Cities are a great sign of societies' achievement. They're huge, filled with people, tall buildings, major civic infrastructure and hubs of business and government, which makes it narratively interesting to see them [[SceneryGorn torn apart and crumbling]]. Fire raining from the sky, buildings and bridges collapsing on each other, overturned cars lining the freeways, monsters roaming the streets, and evidence of the former homes--kitchen sinks and broken furniture---jutting out from the wreckage.

Cities are a great sign of achievement. They're huge, filled with people, and hubs of business, which makes it narratively interesting to see them [[SceneryGorn torn down]]. Fire raining from the sky, buildings collapsing on each other, monsters roaming the streets, and any kitchen sinks left intact being thrown in your face.

This trope evokes familiar elements from urban environments like the BigApplesauce with the worst elements of {{Mordor}}, often with a RealPlaceBackground. This trope is very often the result of a MonumentalBattle, or any urban-centered AlienInvasion.

* The ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series frequently employs this trope:

* In the original version of ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'', London is reduced to an empty city of with abandoned ruins, partially destroyed buildings, and an infestation of the extraterrestrial red weed.

** [[spoiler:The ruins get torn down when peace is achieved humans and robots.]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Prypiat, Ukraine, the site of the UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}} disaster.
[[/folder]]

Cities are a great sign of city achievement. They're huge, filled with people, and hubs of business, which makes it narratively interesting to see them [[SceneryGorn torn down]]. Fire raining from the sky, buildings collapsing on each other, monsters roaming the streets, and any kitchen sinks left intact being thrown in your face.

* ''VideoGame/{{Haak}}'': The first area of the game is the Sanho Ruins, which appear to be some abandoned inner-city area devoid of many people and made up of empty buildings.

* ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'' takes place in the abandoned ruins of a large city that has been ReclaimedByNature.

* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' has Speed City, a whole abandoned city where you fight Speed Buster, a homeless old lady with a shopping cart... [[spoiler:That turns into a giant WaveMotionGun]]. To defeat her, you gotta run towards her, all the while hiding in the ruined, empty buildings to avoid [[spoiler:the giant bursts of energy from her cannon, which both deal ridiculous damage AND push you back, making you have to try and run up to her all over again.]]

* During the first wave of attacks in ''Film/IndependenceDay'', Jasmine Dubrow and her son barely manage to survive the destruction of Los Angeles. The next day, they begin seeking out survivors, and the crumbling ruins of the city are shown in full detail.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' dabbles into this in "The End" when Dean has a vision of the world upon Satan's rise to power.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series has its protagonists visiting the ruins of cities such as [[VideoGame/Fallout1 Los Angeles]], [[VideoGame/Fallout2 San Francisco]], [[VideoGame/Fallout3 Washington D.C]], and [[VideoGame/Fallout4 Boston]].

* During the first wave of attacks in ''Film/IndependenceDay'', Jasmine Dubrow and her son barely manage to survive the destruction of Los Angeles. The next day, she begins seeking out survivors, and the crumbling ruins of the city are shown in full detail.

* During the first wave of attacks in ''Film/IndependenceDay'', Jasmine Dubrow and her son barely manage to survive the destruction of Los Angeles. The next day, she begins seeking out survivors, and the crumbling ruins of the city are shown in full detail.