A Journey Through 25 Cities And How Time Reshaped Them
Side-by-side photos revealing how much cities have changed.
It’s hard to imagine that many of the cities we know so well today once looked completely different. What feels permanent now was once only the beginning, captured in faded photographs tucked away in archives or family albums.
There’s a certain magic in standing in the exact spot where an old picture was taken and trying to match the past with the present. Sometimes the same landmark stands proudly unchanged, and other times everything around it has shifted so much that it feels like stepping into another era.
Some places chose to protect their heritage, allowing historic architecture to remain the heart of the city while new developments rose carefully around it. Others took a bold approach, replacing what once stood with modern skylines packed with glass towers, busy highways, and soaring apartment blocks.
Both paths tell equally meaningful stories about growth, progress, and changing priorities. To highlight these dramatic evolutions, we’ve gathered a collection of 25 before-and-after city photos from around the world.
Each comparison reveals how quickly time can reshape a place - from quiet streets to full urban landscapes, from small settlements to global hubs. These images also capture ambition, innovation, and the ever-shifting rhythm of human life.
Chicago 1937 vs. 2015
Chicago Tribune historical photoHo Chi Minh 1930s vs. 2016
gallica.bnf.frThese before-and-after photos show how time leaves its mark, turning familiar places into something new. In some cities, people walk through history without realizing it. For example, parts of Paris, Istanbul, Rome, and London still sit atop older versions of themselves. Entire streets, tunnels, and even buildings are buried beneath the surface from previous centuries.
In Washington, D.C., some windows sit below street level because the city raised the ground to fix drainage problems in the 1800s. And in New York, a small farmhouse once stood where Times Square now glows with giant screens and thousands of visitors daily. These surprising details make city evolution even more amazing to explore.
Singapore 1969 vs. 2015
Urban Redevelopment Authority website
Athens 1862 vs. 2015
The Royal Collection Trust
London 1920 vs. 2014
gelio
Kuala Lumpur 1884 vs. 2019
G.R. Lambert & Co
Kyiv 1920 vs. 2021
Dziesięciolecie Polski Odrodzonej
Berlin 1983 vs. 2021
Thomas Farr
Istanbul 1912 vs. 2013
Underwood & Underwood
Shanghai 1934 vs. 2015
eBay.com
Las Vegas 1920 vs. 2010
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
Tokyo 1945 vs. 2014
japanairraids.org
Sydney 1935 vs. 2020
Sam Hood
New York 1920 vs. 2021
Mark DeJoy
Buenos Aires 1986 vs. 2018
Nathan Hughes Hamilton
San Francisco 1906 vs. 2021
Geo. R. Lawrence Co.
Seoul 1905 vs. 2016
Han Young-Woo
Rio De Janeiro 1889 vs. 2011
Marc Ferrez
Cairo 1904 vs 2015
Eduard Spelterini
Melbourne 1870 vs. 2010
C. Nettleton Photo / Melbourne
Los Angeles 1910 vs. 2019
Wikimedia Commons
Dubai 1966 vs. 2021
nrlgroup.ae
Abu Dhabi 1980 vs. 2019
Chris Down
Shenzhen 1964 vs. 2015
Eric Hilaire and Nick Van Mead
Jakarta 1880 vs. 2022
Potret Lawas
These before-and-after photos show how time leaves its mark, turning familiar places into something new. Some cities grew upward, others outward, but each one followed its own story of progress.
Seeing the contrast makes it clear that urban spaces are never finished - they keep changing with technology, culture, and population. Transformation is always happening, even when we don’t notice it.
