Across the world, many urban and suburban areas, which were constructed in preceding centuries to meet the needs of those from each era, remain unchanged. This phenomenon will probably cause a rise in traffic volume and housing shortages. In this essay, I will elucidate these challenges and suggest potential solutions.
The primary possible issue that stems from this trend is highly dense traffic. Due to the growing prevalence of automobiles, which did once not exist, it is impossible to accommodate the significant amount of traffic in old structures of the metropolis and the countryside, leading to numerous road issues, such as bottlenecks, clogged streets, and high rush-hour delays. Older cities like Kyoto experience these predicaments. Since its roads and streets stay narrow and single-carriageway, gridlock has become a serious concern as the number of tourists grew. To deter these disruptions, governments should implement urbanization to modernise and reorganise city infrastructure to fulfil the needs of current society. Urban areas like Osaka have urbanised their infrastructure, such as expanding roads and streets in size and width, reducing road congestion.
Moreover, shortfalls in accommodation might be viewed as a problem. Most buildings and houses have been left unmodified since they were erected, which are small and have confined space for occupants. Owing to the rapid increase in population, finite houses and apartments have appeared as a serious challenge. From my experience in Paris, the city prioritised its cultural and traditional landscape, deepening disparities between the housing supply and the demand of urban migrants. To curb this resultant situation, the construction of high-rise buildings is an effective approach to expand the accommodation capacity. To illustrate, the Tokyo government has promoted the erection of skyscrapers and tower blocks over the past decade, thereby occupying thrice the population of Hokkaido, whose land area is nearly five times of Tokyo.
In conclusion, should metropolitan and rural areas not undergo modifications, they are highly likely to experience predicaments related to congested traffic and a dearth of housing. With a balanced measure of cultural conservation and urban renewal, a more practical and unique appearance of areas will be attained.