This look is most commonly associated with HDR (high dynamic range) processing rather than simple selective color.

A typical HDR workflow combines multiple exposures of the same scene—usually one underexposed, one normal, and one overexposed—to hold detail in both bright and dark areas. That can create the crisp, textured midtones and strong contrast often seen in urban decay images.

In your examples, the first image is very likely HDR. The second may also be HDR, though scenes like that can sometimes look similar straight out of camera if there’s a lot of bounced light from windows, doors, and interior surfaces.

So the effect is usually less about isolating certain colors and more about:

• capturing a wide tonal range
• blending exposures or using HDR processing
• preserving detail in shadows and highlights

Saturation or vibrance tweaks may be added afterward, but they’re probably not the main reason for the look.