Today, the quality of life in large cities is decreasing. What could be the reasons behind this? What measures can be taken to resolve this problem?
Sample Response
Rapid industrialisation and urbanisation sincefrom the beginning of this century have drastically changed the urban landscape and brought unprecedented opportunitiespossibilities and opportunities - but at the cost ofnot without the cost of declining living standards for city dwellers. Exponential population growth and unplanned urbanisation are the primary reasons for this declining quality of life. Proper urban planning, investing in public transporttransports and offering government subsidies could be effective solutionssome effective solutions, in my opinion.
The prosperity and opportunitiesopportunity in big cities have attracted a huge number of people and the influx of peoplethe inrush of the population to major cities all around the world paradoxically made life difficult for all. As populations growWith the ever-increasing inhabitants, cities have become overcrowdedcities become overcrowded, expensive, competitive and polluted. Growing competition drives upGrowing competition shoot property rentsthe property rent, makes finding employment difficultmakes employment difficult and increases traffic congestioncongestions. For example, larger populationsthe higher residents in many capital cities around the world make them congested, exorbitantly expensive and polluted. Therefore, urban citizens, especially the less well off, often experience a lower standard of living and areget exposed to the negative effectssides of urban life.
Considering the solutions, first, better planning is required. Some important amenities like public parks, sports centres, alternative roads and other infrastructureinfrastructures and facilities could dramatically enhance people's quality of lifeliving. Extensive investment in public transports would ease traffic congestion and make better transportation accessible to all. In theory, this would reduce air pollution, and possibly improve the well-being of the population. Finally, the government has to heavily subsidise important sectors like healthcare, education and entertainment so that they do not get more expensive and unaffordable by poor and middle-class people.
To conclude, the city attracts large population inflows basically with the promises of a better life, which, paradoxically then cause pressure on existing infrastructure, living costs and life standard. To mitigate such drawbacks, we need to have proper solutions including better planning and more government subsidies.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The essay clearly addresses both causes and solutions, with logical body paragraphs and relevant links from rapid urban growth to overcrowding, costs, transport pressure, and pollution. Its main limitation is recurring imprecision in grammar and collocation, which makes several otherwise strong points sound awkward, while some solutions are asserted more than explained. Prioritise accurate noun forms and agreement, then show more explicitly how each proposed measure improves daily urban life.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response addresses both parts with relevant causes and several practical measures, though some solutions receive only brief explanation.
Explain the mechanism and likely effect of subsidies as fully as the discussion of transport investment and pollution.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay progresses clearly from causes to solutions and conclusion, with focused paragraphs and generally effective linking.
Reduce repetition of overcrowding and pollution in the cause paragraph and use that space to deepen one causal chain.
Lexical Resource
The response shows good topic range, but frequent inaccurate collocations and countable-noun forms reduce lexical precision.
Use standard phrases such as 'public transport', 'an influx of people', 'higher rents', 'traffic congestion', and 'infrastructure'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex structures are attempted successfully, but agreement, article, plural, and relative-clause errors recur across the essay.
Proofread subject-verb agreement in sentences such as 'competition drives up rents' and 'population inflows cause pressure'.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Today, the quality of life in large cities is decreasing. What could be the reasons behind this? What measures can be taken to resolve this problem?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.