Big Cities And The Countryside Essay Sample

The advent of urbanization saw the up springing of cities worldwide. In the developed world as well as a third world countries, cities have become synonymous with development. The sights of cities have been suggested to prove how developed a country was in terms of infrastructure. Skyscrapers continue to flower the view of major cities in the world and have been the hallmark of development in the world. Even though these cities sprang up as a result of urbanization, there have been significant concerns as to their continued growth at the expense of the countryside that continued to don shanties instead of decent buildings. Different technologies and designs have been brought up to beautify these cities to an extent that people who had never been to any city would imagine discovering the undiscovered wonders of the world. It was formulated with a correlation between these big towns and the countryside that we would know the effect that they had on each other.
In contrast to the skyline, that was mostly seen in these big cities is the other side of the world as we may put it, the countryside. It is a world that is not characterized by skyscrapers, but with a variety of options. The buildings in the country first and foremost have nothing much to offer in terms of beauty. They are mostly poorly constructed shanties that would seemingly be seen not to carry any semblance of life and morality. To be precise, people who were born and brought up in cities or near the towns would be utterly astonished if they saw these shanties to be homes to the human race. On the other side of this unexplored world lies the beauty of nature. As opposed to cities, the countryside still possesses the very natural settings of creation. There has not been any much destruction of the natural resources that were originally found in the countryside. Like Jane Jacobs rightfully wrote, big cities and the countryside can get along very well. This article, therefore, seeks to verify this hypothesis by elaborating the aspects in which the big towns and the countryside could mutually coexist and by extension, the inhabitants of these two diverse worlds.
In the words of Jane Jacobs, cities are very much part of what we may call an antithesis of nature. Nature by its very definition refers to things that occurred by themselves without the input of man. Things like lakes and mountains have been explained to teach how they were formed, but man did very little to aid in their formation. Large cities, on the other hand, have a higher percentage of man's input that would then show that man played more major role in their development. Having mentioned that, cities have been well incorporated and accepted by man into the natural system. As a result, they have also become major attractions just like the natural resources that were provided by nature. It would, therefore, be imperative that the cities were not dismissed as not being part of nature but should be incorporated into the natural settings to include part of the attractions in the world. Several benefits are gained from these cities that would have otherwise remained mysterious to many people for decades. Just like Thoreau, many people go to the cities in search of better lifestyles and presented with such opportunities. He would just like the incumbent city dwellers, find a decent lifestyle that would still incorporate nature and the man-made nature of the towns.
It is factual without a doubt of nature by its definition would demand. The countryside on the positive side needs the existence of cities for the countryside dwellers to remain relevant in the current world. Large cities like we mentioned before, have been associated with developments. Not only were they better developed in terms of infrastructure but they were also advanced in all types of events. Today, major and modern learning institutions are found in these big cities. The countryside needs these schools for their academic developments. If these cities were not in existence, there would have been no technological progress that has been witnessed all over the world as the countryside settings have not been favorable to the construction of major learning institutions.
We could also say that cities have been the antithesis to nature in several ways. The areas where the big cities occupy currently were once inhabited by life. Being inhabited by life would imply that there existed natural resources like natural forests and rivers in these areas. Man in his ways had to clear these forests either in whole or in part to pave the way for the construction of these cities. That was cruel to the very essence of nature. The courses of some rivers had to be diverted as well to allow for the comfortable design of these cities as per the wishes of their developers. Even where the rivers were allowed to be, the populace were operating industrial activities continue to pollute these streams thereby derailing the efforts of nature to offer natural resources to the world. That as well would be considered as an antithesis to nature for its very worthy intentions.
Man would also need to embrace the emergence of cities though rather than curse them for interfering with the course of nature. As we have demonstrated above, the big cities have been the center of development, civilization and urbanization. There were more immigration from the countryside to the urban centers in search of better lifestyles. The cities thus have become areas where man can earn a decent life. In the towns as well, different cultures meet and interact. In the process, much information from the diverse cultures of the city dwellers is exchanged. That had enabled man to know how to coexist with their neighbors even though they are from different cultural backgrounds.
Living in the cities though, do not contradict the very way in which man is supposed to live. In reality, cities have diversified the very ways in which man could coexist with nature and at the very time coexist with other people of different cultures and backgrounds. The argument that cities are not part of nature though holds water. By the very definition of life but on the wider picture, towns and nature are very much correlated just like the big cities need the countryside to mutually coexist. Man in his ways had to clear these forests either in whole or in part to pave the way for the construction of these cities. That was cruel to the very essence of nature.