Many people are moving from rural areas to big cities. Why has this happened? To what extent do you think it is a good trend?

These days many people from rural

areas

have chosen to migrate to

cities

or metropolises. They may believe that they are more likely to find

employment

and enjoy a better quality of life, but the movement of the population to urban

areas

indeed can generate numerous problems. There are two main reasons why these people have made

this

decision. Foremost,

cities

are more densely populated and economically developed with various booming industries, so there are more job opportunities available to earn a living and sustain daily life.

This

means that they can have better living standards and afford more consumer goods than ever before.

By contrast

,

employment

opportunities are scarce in rural

areas

, due to the fact that many industries are underdeveloped and many inhabitants’ buying power is limited. Another contributing reason is that city dwellers have easy access to public services, including education and health care, and enjoy better standards of living. Young couples who used to live in the countryside intend to send their children to good schools in urban

areas

, so as to break the cycle of poverty. The increased number of urban dwellers can put huge pressure on housing and facilities in

cities

. Some

cities

are unable to accommodate a large population in light of the shortage of land. Many migrants end up living in slums and enduring poor living conditions, as they cannot afford home ownership. All city dwellers are prone to poor health seeing that urban facilities fail to meet the growing demand for clean water, dispose of household waste effectively and manage sewage. Another problem associated with a rural-to-urban shift is that rural-urban income disparity will grow

instead

of diminishing. Young adults who are ambitious, energetic, hardworking and creative prefer to go to the

cities

in search of educational and

employment

opportunities. The shortage of labour has

thus

become a problem in rural communities and it is not easy to revitalize the local economy. In

cities

, some young people have the eventuality to choose to commit crimes because of the widening gap between the rich and the poor. In conclusion, poor

employment

prospects and sluggish local economies have caused the population to shift to

cities

. On the whole,

this

is a worrying trend to a great extent.