In Cairo, they built a ton of elevated roadways throughout the city over the past 5-6 years to relieve traffic congestion, which was (and still is) among the worst in the world.
And they often put shops under those bridges. Cafes, fast food joints, etc. I think in most countries this would not be allowed due to safety codes, but I dunno. I just don’t really see it elsewhere.
This one is a little carnival under a bridge. Rides for kids.
https://m.primal.net/KImo.jpg
What a great use of space
It's like the BQE in Brooklyn, except there it's homeless shanty towns and hookers.
In Japan these places are called under- girder-bridge, refered as dark, low security and low property value shops due to sound and vibration etc. from the road above. Not children's place definitely.
Under the railway is more common in Tokyo I think. Have you seen Nakameguro recently? Plenty of fancy places use these spaces.
in America that's reserved 4 the homeless/west coast
I love that they have both SpongeBob and Mickey Mouse on the sign. Cute.
Have something like this in Tokyo.
I saw several tiny shops under bridges in Havana, Cuba.
how do these bridges help against congestion if the space on the ground isn‘t used by cars? Wouldn’t it be as effective as building a road at the same place?
Lot of these in Asia. Japan has quite decent places under their train tracks, shops, restaurants. SEA has a lot of random "stuff" thrown under semi-legal. Love it!
This reminds me of Berlin's train tracks. Due to a high ground water level, they built large parts of the Berlin subway ("U-Bahn") and rapid transit ("S-Bahn", larger/faster than the subway) above ground, with Shops being created beneath in many places. 
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