In many cities, planners tend to arrange shops, schools, offices and homes in specific areas and separate them from each other. Do you think the advantages of this policy outweigh the disadvantages?
Sample Response
It is common practice for urban planners to segregate residential, commercial, and industrial activities into distinct zones, yet this approach has both merits and drawbacks. While single-use zoning can offer certain benefits, I believe its tendency to foster car dependency and erode street-level vitality means its disadvantages outweigh its benefits.
Single-use zoning can deliver practical gainstangible practical gains, one of which is fewerreduced nuisance conflicts. Specifically, locating factories and entertainment venues away from residential areas cuts noise and air pollution at source. In practice,This means that industrial operations and late-night establishments generate disruptive noisesound and fumes that, when placed in dedicated zones, no longer intrude on family homes. As a result, quieter, cleaner neighbourhoods promote better physical and mental health among inhabitants. Furthermore, concentrating offices and shops within a central business district allows for more efficient infrastructure provisiondeployment. A clustered commercial core, for instance, can be served by a single metro hub, reducing the need for multiple transit lines. Shared demand in one area can thus lowerthus can lower per-capita transport costs and simplify maintenance schedules.
Despite offering certain organizational advantages, the spatial separation of urban functions often incurs hidden social and environmental costs which can overshadow these benefitsthe mentioned benefits. From an ecological perspective, the fragmentation of residential, commercial, and workplace zones compels individuals to rely heavily on private vehicles, even for routine errands. This dependency stems from the long distances between homes, offices, and shops, which significantly increase traffic volumes and congestion, particularly during rush hours. Socially, this model diminishesthis model also diminishes the vibrancy of urban life. The lack of diverse, overlapping activities undermines street vitality and weakens community bonds. For example, suburban office parks often become deserted after business hours, transforming active daytime spacesonce-active spaces into ghost towns by evening. In the absence of continuous foot traffic from both residents and businesses, local enterprises suffer, and residents lose opportunities for spontaneousorganic social interaction.
In conclusion, although segregating urban functions can alleviate pollution conflicts and streamline transit planning, the resulting car dependency and lifeless streets ultimately do more harm than good. A more integrated, mixed-use approach would better balance efficiency with vibrant, sustainable community life.
Why this response received Band 8.5
The essay presents a compelling, fully developed comparison, with especially strong causal reasoning and specific illustrations supporting a consistent position. Its main limitation is occasional over-elaboration and a few slightly awkward formulations that soften an otherwise highly precise argument. The highest-priority improvement is to tighten selected explanatory sentences and ensure every example remains explicitly tied to the exact planning policy described in the task.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response fully answers the comparative question through a clear position and thoroughly developed benefits and drawbacks.
Strengthen the already sophisticated argument by tying the infrastructure example more explicitly to separated land uses.
Coherence and Cohesion
The argument is highly coherent, with controlled paragraphing and clear progression from benefits to more consequential drawbacks.
Trim a small amount of repeated causal explanation so the progression remains maximally concise.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is broad, precise, and flexible, particularly in the discussion of planning, environmental costs, and community life.
Replace slightly awkward phrases such as 'the mentioned benefits' with more natural, exact alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentence forms are varied and consistently well controlled, with only very minor lapses in natural phrasing.
Refine occasional word order, such as around 'thus can lower,' to make every complex sentence fully idiomatic.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
In many cities, planners tend to arrange shops, schools, offices and homes in specific areas and separate them from each other. Do you think the advantages of this policy outweigh the disadvantages?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.