Band 7+: In some countries, governments are encouraging industries and businesses to move to regional areas outside the big cities. Do the advantages of this trend outweigh the disadvantages?

There has been much controversy about whether the relocation of industrial zones and companies to sub-urban areas brings more benefits or drawbacks. In my opinion, this suggestion can be seen as beneficial.

On the one hand, there are several obvious demerits of transferring factories and businesses out of metropolises. One clear drawback is that it would be time-consuming and costly. This is because the construction of new infrastructure and the upgrade of existing ones such as traffic systems, buildings, or water and power supplies require a huge amount of money to facilitate production and business activities. Therefore, it may pose an intolerable financial burden on the government and businesses. Furthermore, it may take a risk for companies to move their operation outside urban areas since they could lose their customer base. The reason for this is that regular clients may not use their services anymore due to geographical barriers. Thus, the firms need to find new strategies to attract new customers to avoid going bankrupt before getting stable again.

On the other hand, I am of the belief that if this proposal is passed, it may bring about even more advantages. One clear perk is that it could boost the economy of deprived areas. This is due to its ability to provide local people in the countryside with job opportunities. This leads to a significant improvement in the quality of their lives. Additionally, changing the location of industrial facilities and corporations outside big cities would contribute to tackling existing problems in big cities as it could prevent the mass exodus from rural areas to major urban centres in search of works. As a result, it could address the issue of overpopulation in cities, which is the root cause of many other problems (high crime rates, traffic congestion, pollution).

In conclusion, it is apparent that repositioning industries and businesses out of big cities offers more upsides than downsides in terms of providing more job opportunities to local people and reducing the negative effects of urban issues.