Urban exploration, abbreviated as urbex exploration (from the English urban exploration), is a hobby that involves visiting built and abandoned urban areas, and the urban explorer is commonly called an urbexer.
This activity involves visiting hidden or hard-to-reach places, such as private mansions, schools, abandoned warehouses, hospitals, or sanatoriums, etc. In the most extreme cases, the practice involves visiting explicitly forbidden places, such as subway tunnels, catacombs, and rooftops (buildings, monuments, etc.). As a result, it combines various so-called "underground" activities including cataphilia and rooftop climbing, and is closely associated with sports activities like climbing or parkour. The practice quickly spread with the rise of social media and video platforms, notably thanks to YouTube.
Today, the practice of urbex has been modified in some places to become "ruin tourism", a type of tourism facilitated by tour operators who organize visits to abandoned places.
Urban exploration includes different methods of practice that can have various motivating factors. The taste for adventure is an integral part of the element. Some will focus on the historical context, old and abandoned structures. Many urbex enthusiasts are interested in cultural heritage and believe that urbex, when associated with certain conditions, can help preserve and remember the history of sites. Sometimes, urban expeditions allow the restoration or reporting of neglected archival collections.
