The global craze for exploring secret, closed-off city spaces is escalating – as are the risks some thrill-seekers are willing to take. So what’s the appeal?

High stakes pursuit: an urban explorer atop the Lloyd’s building in London

T he pursuit of urban exploration has always been dangerous, but – largely as a result of the oneupmanship generated by social media – the risks taken by today’s young breed of explorers are reaching new and terrifying extremes. They are not just descending into sewers but climbing ever-taller towers, risking their lives in train and tube tunnels, and indulging in photogenic stunts in an effort to win instant internet fame.





There are around 100 active urban explorers in London, and tens of thousands across the world

A lot of these people are putting themselves at greater risk to gain credibility on social media channels. There have been an increased number of deaths in the urbex community worldwide in the past few years, and that’s gone hand-in-hand with the increased desire to publish these exploits on social media.





An urban explorer inside the abandoned Shougang Steel Plant on the outskirts of Beijing





But on the other side urban exploring is the chance to see the abandoned buildings, the infrastructural systems, the construction sites, all the things that comprise the city. And for some urban explorers it is about the “personal sense of empowerment”, that comes from using the body to get into spaces that you’re not supposed to access.





So it is sometimes ideological...





Source: Politics, thrills or social media: what drives the new breed of urban explorer?