These days, overpopulation in many urban areas has led to numerous problems. Identify one or two serious problems associated with overpopulation in urban areas, and suggest ways that governments and individuals can tackle these problems.
Sample Response
The rising population in metropolitan areas has caused significant repercussions. This has resulted in the continuous increase in pollutionincessant spread of pollution and an escalation of poverty. However, there are several preventive measures that the government and individuals can implement to address these problems.
Undoubtedly,No doubt, a rise in a big city's populationan increase in inhabitants in a big city is accompanied by a rise in pollution. In urban areasIn cosmopolitan regions, there are impoverished groups who live in squalor. Some of them have chosen to settle in the city because they believe that they can easily find employment there. For example, in the Philippines, some poor individuals built homes alongin the boulevard of Metro Manila, thus contributing to the volumeamount of waste. These people discard their rubbish indiscriminatelydispose of their rubbish anywhere, which pollutes the environment. In addition, this less affluent cohort has a large number of families. The members of these familiesThese members have personal needs, which place a burden on the breadwinnerwhich cause a burden to the breadwinner of the family. Since the city has many qualified workersseveral educated workers the impecunious group often seems to struggle to find better employmentstruggle in searching a better employment. To illustrate, they cannot secureprocure a decent job because they have not completed their educationsince they did not finish their education. Hence, these people may remain in povertywill suffer from poverty.
However, it can never be denied that the government can implement platforms, which will mitigate the social dilemma, and people take initiatives to mitigate these issues. First of all, they can increase the number of employment opportunitiesoffers in suburban areas, for example by providing people with landin suburbs such as providing them with lands that can be cultivated. Therefore, impoverished people will not concentrateaggregate in the city. Secondly, the government can runprovide educational campaigns and programmes forto these individuals. People who struggle in big cities can also decide to return to villages and start their lives there.
To conclude, the proliferation of pollution and the exacerbation of poverty are the negative ramifications of the rise of residents in the city. Nevertheless, government programmesthe state projects and people's participation in them can curtail this social issue.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response clearly identifies pollution and poverty, develops their connection to urban migration, and offers actions for both government and individuals in a logical structure. Its main limitation is that some solutions are general or weakly connected to the stated problems, and ambitious vocabulary is frequently used in unnatural combinations. Prioritise explaining how each proposed measure directly reduces pollution or poverty, using more precise and conventional wording.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both serious problems are identified and explained, while government and individual responses are provided, though some proposed measures remain general or insufficiently connected.
For each solution, state whether it targets pollution or poverty and explain the expected practical effect rather than merely naming a programme.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay is logically organised into introduction, problems, solutions, and conclusion, with clear overall progression despite some heavy transitions and crowded development.
Separate pollution and poverty more distinctly within the problems discussion and use simpler transitions to highlight their individual causal chains.
Lexical Resource
The response demonstrates a broad topic vocabulary, but several ambitious choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnecessarily elaborate.
Prefer precise phrases such as 'settle in the city', 'find better employment', 'introduce programmes', and 'reduce urban migration' over strained alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex structures is used and meaning remains clear, although errors in articles, punctuation, tense, and complementation occur with noticeable frequency.
Check article use and verb patterns in phrases such as 'on the boulevard', 'search for better employment', and 'provide land that can be cultivated'.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
These days, overpopulation in many urban areas has led to numerous problems. Identify one or two serious problems associated with overpopulation in urban areas, and suggest ways that governments and individuals can tackle these problems.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.