Time To Discover 6 Strangest Cities Where People Actually Lived

We don't know what goes into city planning, but we're guessing it involves a lot of distinguished gentlemen emailing each other about math, statistics, and blueprints. However, somewhere along the way, someone accidentally CC'd the insane asylum, and we ended up with the following civilizations that should never have existed:

Neft : A Piecemeal City in the Middle of the Sea

The USSR discovered oil off the coast of Azerbaijan in 1945. The problem was that no one had ever built an offshore oil rig before, so they had to figure out how to do it from scratch if they wanted to tap that ocean-bottom booty. Not to be deterred by minor considerations such as logic, the USSR proceeded to construct a massive multi platform oil rig right in the middle of the ocean. When more oil was discovered nearby, they didn't bother building a new platform; instead, they retired a boat, bolted it to the existing platform, and began working on it.They continued in this manner until they arrived at Oily Rocks, a massive city of oil workers with more than 120 miles of road built into the middle of the Caspian Sea.

5,000 people live and work in Neft, right in the face of logic and Poseidon. But don't think it's all bleak and inhospitable: Neft is almost as close to a real city as you can get. It has electric power stations, a library, apartment buildings up to nine stories tall, visitor/guest hostels, hospitals, Palaces of Culture, bakeries, and even lemonade workshops.

But if the Soviets were known for anything, it was the dependability of their engineering; they always preferred to glue things together with a combination of balls and aggressive optimism. As a result, Neft is disintegrating. Approximately 75% of it has rusted away, but the locals aren't leaving because there's enough oil to keep that bad boy running for another 30 years, or until the Splicers revolt.



Garbage City (Naser)

Naser is a city with no unemployment, extremely low housing prices, and a population that describes itself as "happy."

Naser is right next to Cairo, one of the continent's largest cities, and it is where Cairo dumps all of its garbage.
The people of Naser aren't just incredibly forgiving neighbors; they also make a living off of garbage. They bring it from Cairo, sort it, and recover all the valuables for themselves, which range from scrap metal to spare electronics. Though the city isn't exactly a utopia (it lacks running water and infrastructure), it's also not just a squat of hobos: There are a number of permanent businesses, streets, and apartment buildings.

Japan's Killer Island - Miyake-jima

Miyake-jima is a small island off the coast of Japan that is undiscovered by tourists, despite being only a few miles from one of the world's densest populations.
Miyake-jima is located at the base of an active volcano, but their main concern is sulfuric gas, which "frequently reaches lethal levels." And, yes, people still live there full-time, even when you can't breathe the air. It is mandatory for all citizens to wear gas masks at all times, as sirens may sound at any time across the island, indicating fatal gas concentrations.

So, why do people continue to live there?
For science's sake!
Or, to be more precise, for
monetary gain! That is science.

In order to test the effects of constant sulfuric gas exposure on a stable population, the Japanese government pays each resident a yearly salary just for existing where they shouldn't.

If Tom Hanks Were a City Made of Ships, It Would Be Like That Movie, "The Terminal."

During the Six Day War, 15 ships from eight different countries were abandoned in the Suez Canal.
Due to military and diplomatic maneuvering, it took an inexplicable eight years to get the ships out of the canal, so the chances of all the old crew members returning to reclaim their boats were pretty slim. Fortunately, this was not a problem because the sailors never left. Though some of the crew were allowed to rotate out every three months, many chose to build an ethnically and politically diverse society entirely on an armada of ships.
Every Sunday, the Yellow Fleet had a regular church service, a postal system that delivered mail between vessels, and even a sort of economy based on ship-to-ship trading. But, as you might expect, spending the majority of a decade on a moored ship gets pretty boring, so they also planned entertainment. They had movie theatres and football fields, they went water skiing, they formed a yachting club, they organised dances, and they even held their own rival Olympics in 1967.
When the canal was finally cleared, only West German boats remained seaworthy. And they dutifully continued to deliver what was left of their valuable cargo, which had cost them eight years of their lives to protect.



What Would Happen If Disney World Characters Looked Like That and Lived There?

Because China has yet to figure out how to pirate political correctness, being a minority in China isn't all break-dance competitions and inspirational after-school specials. Mostly, it's just plain cruelty and discrimination. So, one man decided to create a safe haven for little people to come together and escape the bullying they faced in normal society.

Chen Ming jing, a 44-year-old entrepreneur, is the creator of China's very own Dwarf City. He claims that he founded the park to help China's little people, and that it has created hundreds of jobs for dwarfs that did not previously exist. He doesn't seem to mind that his job entails dressing up in pink tutus and performing a slapstick version of Swan Lake.

A city-sized park in the mountains of Kunming, China, is home to approximately 120 miniature people. The only requirement for citizenship is that you be no taller than 4' 3".

Dwarf City residents live in mushroom-shaped houses, dress up in fairy tale costumes, and make a living off of souvenirs and tourism. While you may find this offensive, Dwarf City residents find starving to death to be slightly more offensive.
Whether you agree with human rights groups who call it a callous gimmick or the fun-sized employees who keep it running, it appears to have all the trappings of a city, complete with a miniature police force, fire department, and political system.

The Wild West Meets a Post-Apocalyptic Video Game Level in Kowloon Walled City

Kowloon Walled City, located just outside of Hong Kong, is the final resting place for Chinese laws. It all began near the end of WWII, when China reclaimed Kowloon from the Japanese. Thousands of trespassers took advantage of the newly established Chinese protectorate and relocated with full government protection.

Then, in 1948, the British attempted to clear the area but failed spectacularly, prompting everyone, both English and Chinese, to issue an official decree saying, "Screw that place." They agreed to leave Kowloon alone but cut it off from all government services, which in communist China included nearly everything: police, water, electricity, road maintenance, postal services, and so on.

They basically Thunderdome the entire city and then walked away.

For the next 30 years, the city experienced explosive growth in terms of population and square footage: the city was only 0.01 square miles in size.Unlicensed 12-story buildings sprung up overnight, untaxed businesses sprouted up everywhere, and a private legion of often unaccredited doctors tended to the populace. Kowloon residents even built their own water and power grids, and it appeared as if Tim Burton was their city planner.

Because there was no law in Kowloon Walled City, opium bars could be found everywhere, prostitution rings operated openly, gambling dens were common, and anyone who wanted to avoid the cops could retreat to a landlocked Tor-tuga whenever they wanted.
Everything in Kowloon Walled City was handled by individuals rather than the government, and the entire thing did not implode on itself. But, after 30 years, the Chinese realised that the Crime Fortress might not be a good thing to have right next to Hong Kong, so they demolished it and built a park in its place.

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