Bad Lands: The Geography of Cities that Shouldn’t Exist – and Why They Do

By Geoff Gibson

Tim Marshall meets Terrible Maps in this geographical tour, led by the creator of the ‘Geography by Geoff’ YouTube channel, of the world’s worst cities

What do Phoenix, Jakarta, Napoli, Goma, Ulaanbaatar and Mexico City have in common? According to Geoff Gibson – geographer, teacher and host of the massively popular ‘Geography by Geoff’ YouTube channel – these are the worst cities in the world… geographically speaking. Whether running out of water, sinking under water, rubbing elbows with killer volcanoes, being stuck in an endless cold front, literally splitting apart at the seams or even dealing with a combination of these scenarios, these cities face existential crises.

‘Erm, why do millions of people live there, then?’, you might ask. That is the driving question for each chapter of BAD LANDS. Gibson dives deep into the history of how these places were founded and why they were founded where they were in the first place. He explores what makes these lands so bad and forecasts what their futures will look like should the worst happen. Part history, part science and part warning, BAD LANDS sneaks a serious message about the acceleration of climate change into an underdog travelogue that spans the globe.