“Putting yourself on stage” in dangerous places is “a trend that is growing,” observes a specialist

A 15-year-old girl died on Saturday when she fell through the roof of an abandoned factory in Unieux (Loire). Another young girl was seriously injured in the fall. The practice of urbex (urban exploration) is growing, sometimes without respecting basic safety rules.

“For a young audience, there is an issue of self-presentation” in places “difficult to access, dangerous”explained Sunday April 28 on franceinfo Aude Le Gallou, doctor in geography and practitioner of urbex.

The practice of urbex, the exploration of urban wastelands, “is becoming more and more popular, especially among young people and adolescents”notes the teacher-researcher at the University of Geneva. “There is more risk of accident because it is a public which may be a little less inclined to pay attention to the basic safety rules of the practiceshe explains. The structures are fragile, you can have a stepped floor, a roof that gives way under your feet.”she recalls.

“The photo and video side, the aesthetics of contemporary ruins, the search for adrenaline” are all factors that have popularized this practice on social networks, observes the specialist. “Social networks mean that there is less and less attraction for the place itself but more for the performance, putting yourself on stage in the place and making the place a setting ultimately, for something that would be rewarding for oneself”testifies Aude Le Gallou. “If this is not the case for all urbexersshe specifies, It’s a trend that’s growing.”.

Safety rules to respect

“There are a number of safety rules that you need to pay attention to”recalls this practitioner, while on the night of April 21 to 22, it was a 17-year-old high school student who was practicing urbex apparently alone who killed himself in Lyon by falling from the dome of the Hôtel-Dieu, ‘where he wanted to photograph the sunrise.

“Don’t explore alone, be equipped, have the right shoes and clothes, be attentive at all times”she says, adding that zero risk cannot exist in this potentially dangerous activity. “If we did urbex perfectly framed, sanitized, with safety barriers, helmets, it would no longer be urbex but abandonment tourism, and that would not necessarily have the same interest for the same audience”she points out.