8. The City of the Future

What will city life be like in the future? Some people think that life in the cities is going to be horrible. They predict that cities will become more and more crowded. As the number of people increases, there will be less space for each person. This overcrowding will cause other problems—more crime, dirtier streets, and worse problems with traffic than we have now. How will people find enough drinking water, energy (such as gas and electricity), and housing? Because life will be hard, people who live in cities will worry more, and they may become sick. For these reasons, some say that nobody will want to live in urban areas.

How can we solve such problems as overcrowding, crime, and traffic? In some cities, thousands of people are already sleeping in the streets because there is so little Suitable housing—and because rents are so high. The crime rate isn't going down. Instead, it is increasing so fast that many people are afraid to go out at night. Traffic is also„ getting worse. More and more often, traffic jams are So bad that cars don't move at all for several blocks. These urban problems have been getting worse, not better, so many people see no hope for the future of the city.

Los Angeles, California, for instance, has no subway system and the buses are slow. Instead, most commuters drive many miles from their homes to work. Many of these drivers spend several hours each day on busy freeways. New York, by contrast, has a mass transit system—buses, commuter trains, and subways, Because the public transportation is crowded and dirty, however, many people drive private cars, and the traffic jams are worse than in Los Angeles, A typical driver complains: "I was driving home, but m forty-five minutes I moved only two blocks! Finally, I turned off the engine and just sat there. A lot of people left their cars where they were in the middle of the street and went into a bar for a few beers! "

On the other hand, some cities have clean, fast, and pleasant public transportation systems. In Paris, France, and Toronto, Canada, for example, anyone can use mass transit to move quickly from one part of the city to another.

Some city planners believe that each city is unique—in other words, that because of cultural differences, one city cannot copy a solution to a special problem from another. But others feel that cities can learn from one another. Not all people believe in the horrible predictions for cities of the future. Instead, they feel that they can solve present urban problems and prevent future ones.

The disadvantages of any modern city are not unique to that city—that is, cities all over the world have to solve the problems of traffic jams, crime, housing, energy, drinking water, and overcrowding. Yet many cities have found answers to one or more of these difficulties. Some European cities, such as Stockholm, Sweden, or London, England, have planned communities that provide people with apartments, jobs, shopping centers, green space, entertainment, and transportation. Many U.S. cities are rebuilding their downtown areas. Urban planners can learn from one another. They can try solutions that have been successful in other parts of the world.