What was a ghost town ravaged by civil war has become a
shabby, bustling metropolis – but rapid urbanisation has taken a heavy toll on
the Afghan capital.
Seen from above, Kabul looks like a city bursting at the
seams. Cars clog the streets, negotiating for space with street vendors and
donkey carts. At the fringes, crude houses pepper the hillsides and the valley
along the river, spreading far beyond what a short time ago were the edges of
the Afghan capital.
Over the past decade, Kabul has become one of the world’s
fastest-growing cities. The toppling of the Taliban in 2001 and the hope of
increased security and economic possibilities enticed many Afghans to move
here: people displaced by fighting in the countryside, refugees returning from
Pakistan and Iran, and hordes of labourers simply looking for a better life.
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