I find the concept very interesting. Could someone recommend me a few good books on the subject? They could be fiction or non-fiction.
You should consider Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk V for Vendetta (graphic novel) by Alan Moore We by Yevgeny Zamyatin I'm a huge fan of Dystopian novels, which all of these fall under, so I hope they are what you are looking for.
Thanks I will look into those for sure. I think Ill start with We because I have seen the movies of the other two stories.
If one is interested in a subject, reading about it is an excellent option. An even better idea would be to immerse oneself into it fully, through actual experience. If you have a vacation coming up and some time and spare cash, then a visit to Detroit's bilghted areas might be very enlightening. I live in Nortehrn Indiana, not too far away from Detroit, but I have not personally been there. If I were very interested in the concept of urban decay though, I probably would have gone already. There are large sections of Detroit that are abandoned, and the crime rate and poor quality infrastructure should be apparent to you if you visit, or so I have heard and surmised.
Depending on your interpretation of "urban decay", I could heartily recommend many of JG Ballard's dystopian works. Drowned World has a major city falling apart after years after the ice caps melt. High Rise is more of a microcosm, in which a tower block's social fabric falls apart. Both fascinating IMO.
I know exactly what you mean. I live about an hour away from Juarez, and that is without a doubt the main reason for my fascination with urban decay. I can see deep into the city all the time from the freeway in El Paso. I am really curious to see what it looks like up close, but I don't think going over there would be worth the risk. Maybe someday soon Ill grow some more balls and head over for an hour or two, but that place is unbelievable right now. There is a very real possibility that I would be killed or kidnapped. I'm interested in reading non-fiction books about urban decay mostly, but I'm very open to fiction as well. It is fascinating and sad at the same time. The concept of JG Ballard's books sounds interesting though, I will have a look at those as well.
Idoru by William Gibson. A science fiction book where following a massive earthquake, the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco has been condemned and taken over by the homeless. They practically build their own city within the levels of the bridge. If you look up the sub-genre of science fiction cyberpunk, pretty much all of the books there deal with some aspect of urban decay. It's a recurring theme in cyberpunk.
