Nowadays, it is becoming more popular for big towns around the world to renew their old buildings, although this costs a lot of money for the government. This way of spending government funds, which should be used for developing the nation, has been questioned by many people who think that this money should instead be spent on constructing new structures and roads. I disagree with this point of view, and in this essay, I will support my opinion with some examples.
Firstly, because some of these old buildings carry much history about the country, most governors prefer to renew them rather than replacing them with new structures which have little or no history. Take, for instance, the White House in the USA. It has been there for centuries and has been constantly renewed, although its renewal cost billions of dollars, it is still done because it has archives of all the presidents that have ever ruled this nation.
Another reason why I think it is better to renew some old buildings is that some of them often serve as museums and touristic sites. They can attract more visitors and tourists if they are renovated because restorations often bring out the beauty of certain old structures, making them more attractive than before. A perfect example of this is the Cameroon’s national museum found in Yaounde. Before, few Cameroonians, including me, did not know the use of this old building that was located at the heart of the city, but after retouching and painting this building, it became a place where nearly everyone in this town will like to visit and take photos because of its beauty.
On the other hand, there is an argument that countries without roads should concentrate their funds on building new roads because roads bring development. They say that restoring old constructions should only be considered if the country already has good roads.
To sum up, it is clear that many governments are using enormous sums of money on rebuilding old monumental buildings in big cities because they often preserve the country’s identity and serve as touristic sites for foreigners. In my view, it is a good investment spending much money on these buildings.