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עמוד:44
Urban Sprawl You are going to read an excerpt from a book on urban planning . Look at the title of the chapter . What do you expect to read about ? & In your notebook , list at least three issues related to the growth of cities that could be "bad news . " I •) Read the excerpt . Which of the issues that you thought of are mentioned in the excerpt ? Which additional issues are mentioned ? The Growth of Cities — the Bad News 1 In the previous chapter , we discussed how , in the nineteenth century , small towns expanded into large cities , especially as a result of the Industrial Revolution . We looked at examples of cities that have become centers of finance and social life . We also mentioned that , at the beginning of the nineteenth century , only London had a large enough population to be called a city , compared to today , when there are about 300 cities in the world . 2 We will now turn our attention to the negative side of the growth of cities — the issue of urban sprawl . Urban sprawl is the spread of a city from its center towards the suburbs . This happens when families move to neighborhoods far from the city center . The move to the suburbs began in most parts of the world after the Second World War , when people wanted to escape the noise and pollution found in city centers . However , over the past I 00 years , cities have been growing taller as well as wider . They have also become very crowded , so many people prefer to live in the suburbs and to commute to their places of work in the city center . 3 The word suburb is made up of the words sub , meaning " under , " and u ?~ b , meaning " city . " Suburbs are small residential communities that are close enough to the city for people to commute to work . Compared to the city center , the suburbs are less noisy , and have cleaner air and more green spaces . 4 For a long time , developers felt that urban sprawl would improve the qualityof life . Unfortunately , urban sprawl has created problems of its own . Many people who live in the suburbs feel out of touch with life in the city and often need services that are found only in the city center . Since most suburban residents live in single-family homes with large gardens , they may feel lonely and alienated from their neighbors . Some suburbs may lack a good transportation system , which makes it difficult for people who do not have a car . Commuting — traveling to and from work in the city center — may take up to two hours each way . Commuting is also a major cause of traffic and parking problems , adding to the pollution in the cities . A more serious problem associated with urban sprawl is the increased crime rate in many cities . As commuters return to their homes in the suburbs at the end of the working day , many cities have become centers of crime rather than social meeting points at night . 6 For the past twenty years , city planners have been trying to find solutions to the problems caused by urban sprawl . Hopefully , some solutions will be found before it is too late .
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