Some cities create housing areas by providing taller buildings. Others create housing by building houses on a wider area of land. What solution is better?

While the government in a number of

cities

decide to construct high-rise buildings to provide housing for their citizens, that in other

cities

expand their housing areas horizontally. In my opinion, building a vertical city is a better option because it makes better use of

land

, a limited resource on the planet, and it is

also

more eco-friendly than a horizontal one. A vertical city can better optimize the

land use

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land-use

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because the

land

on earth will not grow any bigger, while the human population is ever-increasing. If tall apartments are erected and chosen as a place of residence, a unit of

land

can accommodate a larger number of residents.

For instance

,

instead

of allocating 100 miles square of

land

for the construction of houses for a population of only 100 households, the government can provide accommodation for ten times as many when constructing a ten-story apartment.

Then

, more

land

can be available for other purposes,

such

as cultivating crops to meet the growing food demands or expanding streets to alleviate traffic congestion, which can address critical issues associated with overpopulation. Meanwhile, housing areas enlarged in a horizontal direction place high pressure on the environment and people’s life.

As a result

of the increasing population of humans, wildlands may be encroached to make room for residential areas.

For example

, in Brazil, a major part of forests are cleared to build more houses for citizens, which not only endangers wildlife but

also

puts human civilization at higher risk of natural disasters. With narrowed forests, floods and droughts have taken place more often, damaging the agriculture, the economy and other important sectors of

this

country. In conclusion, employing the same area of

land

, vertical

cities

can house more citizens than horizontal

cities

which are not only environmentally damaging but

also

unsustainable in the long run. Personally, municipal leaders should develop their city in a vertical way as soon as possible.