With ever greater numbers of people gravitating towards large cities, the strains of urban living have become a defining feature of modern life. This essay will identify the principal problems such cities face before contending that governments ought to encourage a shift of population towards smaller towns.
The difficulties are manifold. Traffic congestion is perhaps the most conspicuous, as an excess of vehicles condemns commuters to hours lost in gridlock while pumping pollutants into an already burdened atmosphere. Scarcely less acute is the cost of living, and housing above all, which in many metropolises has spiralled beyond the reach of ordinary earners, forcing them into cramped accommodation or punishing commutes. Layered upon these tangible pressures is a subtler toll on wellbeing, for the relentless density, noise and pace of city life, coupled with a dearth of green space, leaves many inhabitants chronically stressed.
In light of this, I am persuaded that governments should actively promote relocation to smaller towns. Redistributing population would simultaneously relieve congestion, deflate housing costs and abate pollution in the largest cities. Success, however, hinges on preparation: unless the state first endows these towns with dependable healthcare, good schools and, crucially, viable employment, few will be willing to move, and the policy will falter.
In conclusion, the problems of large cities, congestion, prohibitive housing and pollution, are real and worsening. A considered strategy of encouraging migration to properly developed smaller towns would ease them appreciably, and I therefore regard such intervention not merely as justified but as increasingly necessary.