In many countries, there is a shortage of housing due to a growing population. Some people argue that new towns should be built in the countryside, others argue for the regeneration of cities. What are the advantages and disadvantages of building new towns in the countryside?
Sample Response
With around eight billion population in the world, many cities have little spaces to accommodate the growing number of population and their housing. Thousands of people are moving to the urban areas each day for better jobs, modern facilities, education and healthcare services only to increase the woes the cities already have. To solve the housing and other pressing issues due to the booming of the population, many people opine that constructions of new cities near rural areas is the best solution while others have a different view on this. The second group supports regeneration of cities rather than building new towns close to country sides. Establishing new cities in the vicinity of the countrysides has its advantages and drawbacks.
First of all, building new cities near the countrysides would require a huge budget. Since many underdeveloped and developed countries already have a scarcity of budgets even to support the basic needs of citizens, taking such initiatives would uplift their debts only. Besides, constructing new cities close to country sides would require destroying farming lands and natural geography which will have severe consequences including deforestation and degradation of lands. Further, such cities would be far away from the main cities and if the government fails to provide every facility that the already established cities have, people would not stay there and this possess a chance of the wastage of money in the long run. Finally, many cities already have severe congestion problem and building such new cities near rural areas would make the situation worse as people’s necessity for commuting to these new cities would increase.
On the other hand, accurate planning and proper execution of establishing new cities near rural areas rather than regenerating existing cities have many merits. First of all, this would be an excellent way to solve the housing problems many cities have. If the government can ensure proper facilities in the newly constructed cities, the pressure on current cities would decrease tremendously. This would result in less traffic congestion, decentralisation, less pollution and better life standard in both types of cities. Newly built cities would open many new job facilities and that would help the adjacent rural areas to develop as well. No doubt the constructions would require a huge budget, but the government will have an excellent opportunity to control many business sectors there to earn a steady revenue. Finally, these new cities would have modern buildings and new constructions which would fight better against the natural calamities like the earthquake.
In conclusion, building new cities near rural areas is a plan that can bring many amenities both for the citizens and the government in a country. It can be an excellent way for solving housing and pollution problems in existing cities though some negative consequences of this plan should be taken into consideration.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use count noun Original: eight billion population Suggested revision: eight billion people Why it matters: Population is not normally counted directly after a numeral in this construction.
- 2. Use uncountable noun Original: little spaces Suggested revision: little space Why it matters: Space is uncountable when it means available room.
- 3. Avoid faulty collocation Original: growing number of population Suggested revision: growing population Why it matters: A population grows, whereas a number must refer to countable people or residents.
- 4. Remove unnecessary article Original: the urban areas Suggested revision: urban areas Why it matters: The general plural noun phrase does not require the definite article.
- 5. Use precise wording Original: only to increase the woes the cities already have Suggested revision: only adding to the pressures cities already face Why it matters: This wording expresses the urban strain more naturally and precisely.
- 6. Remove unnecessary article Original: the housing and other pressing issues Suggested revision: housing and other pressing issues Why it matters: Housing is used generically here, so the definite article is unnecessary.
- 7. Use natural collocation Original: booming of the population Suggested revision: rapid population growth Why it matters: Rapid population growth is the standard expression for this idea.
- 8. Fix noun agreement Original: constructions of new cities near rural areas is Suggested revision: construction of new cities near rural areas is Why it matters: The singular mass noun construction agrees with the singular verb is.
- 9. Tighten phrasing Original: have a different view on this Suggested revision: hold a different view Why it matters: Hold a different view is a more concise and natural collocation.
- 10. Use correct expression Original: new towns close to country sides Suggested revision: new towns in the countryside Why it matters: Countryside is one word and in the countryside matches the task context.
- 11. Use singular countryside Original: vicinity of the countrysides Suggested revision: vicinity of the countryside Why it matters: Countryside is normally an uncountable singular noun in this meaning.
- 12. Fix budget collocation Original: a scarcity of budgets Suggested revision: limited budgets Why it matters: Limited budgets expresses the lack of available public funds naturally.
Suggested Rewrites
- eight billion population eight billion people
- little spaces little space
- growing number of population growing population
- the urban areas urban areas
- only to increase the woes the cities already have only adding to the pressures cities already face
- the housing and other pressing issues housing and other pressing issues
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response addresses both sides thoroughly and is organised into a clear progression, with several relevant consequences for housing, transport, employment, and the environment. Its main limitation is that frequent awkward collocations and grammatical slips reduce precision, while a few claims are only loosely explained. The highest-priority improvement is to develop fewer points more convincingly and express them through natural, accurately controlled sentence patterns.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Response
Both advantages and disadvantages are directly addressed through several relevant ideas, although some supporting logic is generalised or insufficiently convincing.
Develop fewer main points with more precise causal explanation, especially for congestion, revenue generation, and disaster resistance.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response progresses logically through clear thematic paragraphs, but formulaic sequencing and some long sentences make cohesion occasionally mechanical.
Use a wider range of unobtrusive transitions and tighten internal sentence links so each paragraph builds one coherent argument.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied enough to discuss the issue in detail, but frequent unnatural collocations and word-form or number choices reduce precision.
Prioritise accurate collocations such as population growth, limited space, government debt, job opportunities, and standard of living.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex structures is attempted and meaning remains clear, though agreement, articles, plurals, and clause control are inconsistently accurate.
Edit systematically for subject-verb agreement, countability, articles, and sentence boundaries before adding more structural complexity.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
In many countries, there is a shortage of housing due to a growing population. Some people argue that new towns should be built in the countryside, others argue for the regeneration of cities. What are the advantages and disadvantages of building new towns in the countryside?
Your response
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