Skip to Content

These drone photos show urban inequality around the world

From Mumbai, to Silicon Valley, to Long Beach, California, this drone photography project illuminates scars in the urban fabric.

Parts of Mumbai are among the mostly densely populated areas on the planet. In some places, more than a million people live in less than one square mile. Tightly packed buildings, largely made of gray
concrete covered with blue tarps, protect against the monsoon rains.
Parts of Mumbai are among the mostly densely populated areas on the planet. In some places, more than a million people live in less than one square mile. Tightly packed buildings, largely made of gray concrete covered with blue tarps, protect against the monsoon rains.Johnny Miller / Unequal Scenes

The Moinho favela in central São Paulo is sandwiched between an overpass and railroad tracks. It has no public water, electricity, or sanitation.
On the eastern side of False Bay, in suburban Cape Town, South Africa, a prosperous beachside neighborhood, the Strand (right) is set off from subsidized government housing in Nomzamo (left) by rows of informal settlements (center).
JOHNNY MILLER
With more than 2 billion users, Facebook has built a global empire of wealth and influence. A homeless encampment sits in the shadow of its headquarters in Menlo Park, California.
In northwest Long Beach, California, houses abut storage tanks used by the many oil refineries in the area.
A pawn shop on Minnehana Avenue in Minneapolis was destroyed by fire during the unrest following the killing of George Floyd.

This area of the Sante Fe neighborhood of Mexico City contains barriers and walls to separate two communities neatly and discreetly. Another way to see this is to enable street view on Google maps, and look at the available roads leading into and out of an area of exclusion.

These images are part of “Unequal Scenes,” a drone photography project intended to illuminate scars in the urban fabric. More images from this project can be found on the Unequal Scenes site or on Instagram.

Deep Dive

Humans and technology

Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives

The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.

A new operating system for health care

A reimagined IT infrastructure for health care could reorient us from sickness to wellness.

Introducing the chief trust officer

Building and maintaining stakeholder trust is now a key responsibility across the C-suite

How to teach kids who flip between book and screen

Technology is changing how we read—and that means we need to rethink how we teach.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.