Cambridge IELTS 18 Test 3 Writing Task 2: Sample Answer

Across the world, millions of people leave villages for cities every year, leaving rural areas with fewer residents. Although this trend brings certain benefits, I believe it is a largely negative development.

The attraction of the city is easy to understand. Urban areas offer a wider range of jobs, higher wages and better access to hospitals and universities. A young person who might otherwise spend a lifetime in subsistence farming can find stable employment in a factory or an office and send money home to relatives. From a national perspective, concentrating workers in cities can also raise productivity, because businesses benefit from a large pool of skilled labour.

However, the costs of this movement are considerable, especially for the countryside. As young adults depart, villages are left with an ageing population, and schools, clinics and shops close for lack of customers. Farmland may be abandoned, which threatens the supply of food and weakens traditional communities and local culture. Meanwhile, cities struggle to cope with the new arrivals. Housing becomes unaffordable, so many migrants end up in overcrowded slums, and traffic congestion and air pollution worsen steadily. The hoped-for opportunities do not always materialise, and some newcomers find themselves unemployed and far from family support.

Governments could reduce these problems by making rural life more attractive. Investment in broadband internet, reliable transport and local healthcare would allow people to work and raise families in the countryside, while subsidies for farmers could make agriculture a more secure career. Balanced regional development would then spread prosperity more evenly.

In conclusion, although cities offer genuine opportunities, the depopulation of rural areas and the strain on urban infrastructure make this trend more harmful than helpful unless authorities take action to rebalance it.