A Journey Through 25 Cities And How Time Reshaped Them
Side-by-side photos revealing how much cities have changed.
Time doesn’t just pass, it punches. One decade a street is familiar, the next decade it’s unrecognizable, and somehow the city still feels like the same place, just with a different face.
This set of before-and-after photos stacks 25 cities side by side, like Chicago 1937 beside Chicago 2015, or Ho Chi Minh from the 1930s into 2016. You can practically see the decisions people made, the traffic that replaced open space, the skyline that grew where old landmarks used to sit. Even the dates tell a story, London 1920 against 2014, Tokyo 1945 against 2014, Kyiv 1920 against 2021.
Keep scrolling, because the longer you look, the less “progress” feels like a straight line.
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.
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
Uber passengers’ messages that turned routine rides into viral screenshots feel like their own little time capsule.
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
In Chicago, the skyline shift from 1937 to 2015 makes it feel like the city blinked and changed its outfit overnight.
In Tokyo, the jump from 1945 to 2014 turns the aftermath of war into a brand new rhythm of streets and buildings.
In Kyiv, the move from 1920 to 2021 shows how a city can keep rebuilding, even when history keeps knocking it back down.
In Dubai, the leap from 1966 to 2021 is so dramatic it almost looks like the desert decided to start stacking stories upward.
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. Transformation is always happening, even when we don’t notice it.
By the end, every city feels like it’s daring you to recognize it again.
Want more time-warped streets, like New York’s old skyline versus today’s? See 100 photos of New York through time.
