Today more and more old cities are being rebuilt and redesigned in order to be modernized. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this trend? Give your opinion and relevant examples. - Ielts Essay

Today more and more old cities are being rebuilt and redesigned in order to be modernized. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this trend? Give your opinion and relevant examples.

 

Ielts Essay - Should We Rebuild Old cities? 

A large scale revamp of older portions of many cities across the world has raked up a controversy of sorts among the progressives and the conservatives, who hold contrasting views on this issue connected to the urban development. The new concepts of building have earned accolades, as well as brick bats. 

Modern urban centres are facing challenges on multiple fronts; they need to effectively address the problem of rising population pressure; also sustain the beauty of the areas and localities.  The new concepts entail rationalizing use of available spaces, and accommodating more families and offices per square meter in the given land parcels. Rationalizing forbids wastage of any available space, e.g. there is no room for plush front lawns and extra additions that have little use. Furthermore, innovative new system also proposes energy saving; modern designers create provisions for natural light, thus minimizing use of artificial lighting to help in saving valuable energy.

Similarly, old areas, including residential and commercial, of a majority of cities across the world, are congested and prone to accidents, and in case of some mishaps, it becomes almost impossible to extend help and assistance. The streets, are quite narrow, that impede free movement of traffic and people. Beyond that, revamping these areas would need heavy investments.

However, old cities present uniqueness, which would be lost, if old cities were to be dismantled, moreover, these are part of national heritage that give a rich in-view about the past of a city and its community. Doing away with these would disconnect local young generations from their past, and also leave nothing for travellers from other parts of the world to visit.

To conclude, I feel old cities should be preserved and in fact, restored. This would prove beneficial in the long run.