One of the greatest heated discussions among people is whether city life is desirable to country life or vice versa, and why. In fact, each sector is the polar contradictory of the other, and the advantages of one are essentially the downsides of the other. Despite the fact that village living has numerous advantages, such as less noise, splendid natural vistas, less contamination, pure air, and less crowding, the statistics do not favor village individuals across the world. The statistic on who are better favors cities more and so is this essay.
Year after year, tens of thousands of individuals relocate to metropolitan areas in quest of better pastures. Despite the fact that the majority of them would have liked to continue in the less demanding villages, they were forced to relocate to cities owing to pecuniary constraints. Here are some of the reasons why city living is preferable than country life.
The first and most obvious reason is conveyance. The majority of cities have regimented public transportation systems that link almost all parts of their metropolitan centers to one another. Road, train, and air travel are the most common types of transportation (Rogerson, 2016). As a result, when it comes to transportation, city people have a wide range of options. They may choose to go by car or cab on the roads, or they may choose to travel by train to get to the outskirts of the city, or they may choose to travel by aircraft to other cities.
In addition, there are paved trails for walking and bicycling as well. Villages, on the other hand, have the worst transportation infrastructure. While the major road may be in good condition, secondary interconnecting roads that pass through communities and fields are rarely tarred or even paved. During the rainy season, when the roads grow muddy, they become impassable.
As a result, there is more effective communication in urban areas. For this reason, most communication firms have all of their equipment put in urban areas, where there is a significant concentration of people and where they can expect a strong return on their investments. The fact that they seldom build communication transmitters in rural regions means that the communication network in rural areas is extremely underdeveloped and inefficient. It is necessary for village residents to rely on powerful communication boosters from the city, which are rarely reliable (Rogerson, 2016). Therefore, they must search for regions with a network connection before they can interact, which makes the entire procedure time-consuming and annoying. When it comes to cities, communication networks can be found practically everywhere, even in the most impoverished areas.
Aside from that, the cities are well-defended. Police officers patrol the streets of cities 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a side note, there are CCTV cameras strategically placed across the city, which makes it simpler to apprehend offenders and investigate crimes. The 911 speed dial also contributes to a speedier response time from the police department, which is extremely important during emergency situations. Because of the low population density in rural regions, the people of the villages are vulnerable to a wide range of dangers.
Only a few sheriffs with inadequate equipment are stationed in the villages, and they are responsible for providing services to everyone. The fact that the villages have inadequate communication infrastructure really presents a difficulty to the villagers at times of crisis, since they are unable to warn the authorities in time to save their lives.
Besides, the city offers a diverse range of job options as well as business chances. As a result, the majority of people are choosing to leave their villages in favor of urban areas. The city is essentially a hive of business activity that is always bustling. The fact that there is far more money in circulation in cities than in rural areas boosts the likelihood of prosperity in the latter. There are several employment options available for both skilled and unskilled individuals.
Furthermore, the great concentration of people in cities is particularly appealing to businesspeople and enhances the likelihood of their enterprises flourishing. Farming is the only viable economic activity in the townships that has a enhanced chance of success than other activities. Farming, on the other hand, does not work very well for them since they are only producers. These small businesses offer their commodities to manufacturers as raw materials, which does not bring in much money in comparison to the large firms that make billions of dollars from the sale of processed meals.
In addition, public facilities are available in the cities. The school system in urban areas is superior, with more qualified instructors and better facilities than in rural areas. Village schools are frequently understaffed as a result of a scarcity of instructors who are prepared to bring their expertise to the communities (Rogerson, 2016). Many hospitals and medical facilities are located across the cities, with a variety of practitioners, including surgeons, physicians, nurses, and psychiatrists, all working together.
Additionally, since improving communication and transportation infrastructure, medical personnel are able to respond to situations much more quickly than in the past. Villages seldom have more than one medical facility, and those that do are typically understaffed and have substandard medical facilities to offer. There are also banks, retail malls, telephones, rest rooms, and water fountains, to mention a few of the amenities available to you.
In addition, cities provide a wide variety of entertainment and recreational opportunities. The city’s nightlife and entertainment venues are always hopping, both during the day and at night. Nightclubs, theatres, coffee shops, and fast food restaurants, among other places of entertainment, help to make life more satisfying and enjoyable. There are also recreational facilities, such as museums, parks, and zoos, where individuals may rest and take pleasure in their surroundings. Aside from the odd communal meeting, there is nothing in the way of entertainment in these little settlements.
There are relatively few places to go for entertainment in the villages, which makes living in them monotonous and sluggish. Another advantage of city living is the ability to maintain one’s privacy (Vandercasteelen et al., 2018). Ironically, cities have a higher level of privacy than villages, despite the fact that millions of people live in a single geographical location. People in cities do not go about prying into other people’s business, even if they are neighbors, because it is considered impolite. In the villages, on the other hand, news spreads like wildfire because everyone knows everyone else and everyone wants to know what is going on in each other’s lives.
There are also cultural integrations taking place. Cities are essentially large metropolitan regions that draw people from all walks of life together. In the process of bringing people together, cultures are borrowed and shared, which promotes togetherness and helps to eliminate all forms of bias and prejudice. Only one set of people may live in the villages at a time, which inhibits their ability to think critically and to tolerate diverse cultures and worldviews from other parts of the globe. Food is one of the things that thrives in cities as a result of the diversity of their populations.
People who live in cities have a vast variety of cuisines to choose from. Their options include eating at restaurants or eating at food vendors, or placing phone orders to have their meals delivered right to their door. Such goods do not exist in the villages, and the people who live there must make do with the few foods that are available to them.
Housing is also more affordable in cities than it is in rural areas. Houses throughout the city (with the exception of ghettos, of course) are built to a standard design and have an excellent drainage and sewer system. The reality remains that, despite the fact that the average city house is smaller in contrast to a rural house, they are far more comfortable. In order to keep the temperatures inside city homes moderate, air conditioners are placed in them.
The majority of things are automated: dishwashers for utensils, vacuum cleaners for floors, washing machines for clothing, lawn mowers for lawns, and security systems to keep the houses safe, to mention a few examples (Senetra & Szarek-Iwaniuk, 2020). All of this equipment is not seen in the typical village dwelling. Aside from the fact that drainage and sewer systems are not readily available in rural areas, the majority of homes do not even have restrooms on the premises.
To add to that, cities are equipped with cutting-edge technology that is always up to date with the most recent global fashion trends and developments. The use of technology makes life significantly simpler for city people than it is for rural dwellers. City residents may have everything they desire with a single touch of a button. The ability to purchase anything online, order meals using their mobile phones, or even obtain an uber ride by just activating an application on their phones is available to them.
Poor and out-of-date technology, along with a lack of infrastructure, is preventing communities from achieving the opportunities for a comfortable and simple way of life. Furthermore, when it comes to setting budgets and policies, the majority of governments prioritize the needs of the citizens of the cities (Senetra & Szarek-Iwaniuk, 2020). We all know that the majority of government money is spent on the creation and upkeep of public infrastructure, particularly in metropolitan environments. This explains why change and growth in cities usually occur at a faster rate than change and growth in rural regions.
Because there are so many opportunities in cities, anyone who is ready to put in the required effort and endurance will be able to realize their goals. Because farming is the primary source of income in rural areas, a person’s prospects of escaping poverty are extremely small. Consequently, if someone does not own property, working on someone else’s land will not provide him or her with the required earnings to enable him or her to own a piece of land.
On the other hand, your neighbors are more than just neighbors; they are friends, and those who become friends become much more than just friends; they become family, and family is for eternity. That’s one of the things I appreciate about living in small towns, which is why I believe my ideal living scenario would be a smaller town near to a large metropolis, where I could have the best of both worlds whenever I wanted. It’s possible to have the intimacy and closeness, connections, and a sense of belonging to a community that you get from living in a small town while also having the ability to travel into the city and take advantage of everything it has to offer.
If you are targeting somebody in a small town, there is a good risk that the target may identify you and call the authorities to report the crime. Rape, murder, and kidnapping are all crimes that are more often in small towns than in large cities. Of course, these crimes might occur, but they are extremely unusual in small towns. As a result, there is no disputing the fact that crime rates are lower in small communities. If you conduct internet research on websites and forums that track crime data, you will notice a significant shift right away. Most small towns have crime rates that are 50 percent to 80 percent lower than those of large cities (Wang et al., 2019).
In addition, the quality of life has improved in the small towns since it is simpler and less expensive. Choosing between living in a serene and tranquil area with no pollution or in a bustling, amusing, and never-ending metropolis is a trade-off that requires sacrifice on one side. Personally, I like to live in a smaller town that is not too far away from a major metropolis so that I can have the best of both worlds when I want it and when I don’t. In a tiny town, everyone knows your name, and everyone knows everyone else’s name. In fact, everyone knows everyone else. It’s good to be so near to people and to know a variety of individuals (Rogerson, 2016).
It is one of the most rewarding aspects of living in a village to be surrounded by a thriving local business sector that cannot be found anywhere else. Shopping indigenously may result in not just discovering uncommon items and receiving high-quality products, but it could also mean directly backing your neighbors and contributing to your society. Small towns are also perfect for starting a business and developing roots in your community since there is less rivalry for space and resources than in larger metropolitan areas. As per the Business Insider article referenced above, “the average annual income per enterprise in America’s big cities is $1.4 million, but the amount is double to $4 million in lesser cities and villages.” In combination with the lower cost of living, little towns seem to nearly ensure that the people who live there have an overall greater quality of life than the individuals who lives in larger cities (Konecka-Szydłowska, 2014).
In conclusion, city life is frequently preferred to country life due to its convenience. You can obtain everything you want in the city, and you can get it swiftly. The village life isn’t bad, but there is a scarcity issue that has to be solved. So many products aren’t available in the villages, and residents must travel to towns on a routine basis to shop, which is exhausting and time-consuming. It comes as no surprise that persons from metropolitan regions would struggle to acclimate to living in the countryside. People in rural areas, on the other hand, will be amazed by the city’s fantastic way of life and the many opportunities it gives.
References
Konecka-Szydłowska, B. (2014). Socio-economic situation of small towns of the Poznań agglomeration. Small and medium towns’ attractiveness at the beginning of the 21st century. Clermont-Ferrand: Ceramac, 33, 133-146.
Rogerson, C. M. (2016). Outside the cities: Tourism pathways in South Africa’s small towns and rural areas. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 5(3), 1-16.
Senetra, A., & Szarek-Iwaniuk, P. (2020). Socio-economic development of small towns in the Polish Cittaslow Network—A case study. Cities, 103, 102758.
Vandercasteelen, J., Beyene, S. T., Minten, B., & Swinnen, J. (2018). Big cities, small towns, and poor farmers: Evidence from Ethiopia. World Development, 106, 393-406.
Wang, X., Liu, S., Sykes, O., & Wang, C. (2019). Characteristic development model: A transformation for the sustainable development of small towns in China. Sustainability, 11(13), 3753.
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