City Life - Why people prefer to live in cities? (2024)

City living can have many positive impacts compared to rural life. Because of these benefits, most of the world’s population live in cities now. While the rural lifestyle is less stressful, city lifestyle has a lot of people and many advantages for people. With a rapid increase in urban growth, cities are becoming lucrative. It’s more likely people will walk in parks or get more exercise in city life than to their rural counterparts. Living in the city is becoming a new normal and people now prefer living in major cities inspite of higher cost of living. There are some negatives to city life, such as stressful lifestyles and fast-paced life. These have to be tolerated to live in a good city. Obesity is also high in urban areas because of loss of exercise. In rural areas, people do a lot of manual work which helps maintain their stress and obesity levels. People might also know each other more personally in rural areas as compared to cities. Although it is important to think of both sides, this article will focus on the advantages of living in the city rather than in rural areas or the countryside.

Also Read: Disadvantages and Issues of living in a City or City Life

Here are some advantages of living in a big city:

1. More job opportunities: In cities, there are a lot more jobs and learning opportunities for you. Although the job market is a lot more competitive, there are a lot of job opportunities and a wide variety of jobs available that you can take part in. If you need to develop a skill, it is also likely that you can do a course to understand your skills and to get that job. If you are educated, then there are more jobs available for labor jobs, clerks, customer service to engineering jobs. This is one of the major reasons many people migrate from rural areas to urban city life.
2. More chances of meeting new people: One of the major ways in which people get new opportunities is through meeting people and city life offers this. Wherever you go in the city, you will encounter new people and will be in the mix of meeting someone who can suggest an opportunity for you. There is also a lot of information and knowledge available in cities through the computer and the internet, which might not be available in the rural lifestyle. It’s likely you will become friends with a few people as you become more familiar with the city lifestyle and develop your own group of connections and network. You gain better life experiences as you learn from a larger population.
3. A lot of variety and choices: This is because of the abundance and mix of people and culture. In major cities, you find people from all walks of life and countries/cities. Larger populations also help you in making new friends. So there is a melting pot of cultures and people. This suggests that cities are more connected to the world. This will help people to understand their own choices and themselves better in relation to what they like and dislike or which path will give them more opportunities in life.
4. Better infrastructure and education opportunities: There are more educational opportunities and a lot of different courses and institutions available in cities. Although they might be expensive, it is also easier to get a bank loan in the city. If you have children, then it might be better to migrate to the city as they have many opportunities and will be exposed to a more modern lifestyle. There is always an opportunity to learn something new or develop something in a city. Since the pay is also higher in cities, with your job it will be easier to save money for the child’s education. Living in the city is more expensive in short term but the returns offered on education and job are virtually guaranteed as compared to rural area.
5. More overall facilities and knowledge about health: There are more opportunities for a healthy lifestyle in cities, such as good doctors and vaccination opportunities. People are known to live longer because they have purposeful lives and dedicate themselves to more worthy causes. Even NGOs like UNICEF work in major cities, bringing in more knowledge about health issues where even the poor can get access to flu vaccinations and so forth. There might also be more immunity because of the large population size. There are also many gyms and parks in cities that encourage people to walk and exercise. But, one negative issue is the pollution that might cause ill-health in cities which cities are struggling to tackle.

The benefits and advantages can be clubbed into following categories:

Availability Of Services & Facilities

• Cities usually have hospitals and nursing homes where there are good doctors to take care of us when we have diseases or illnesses. Good medicine is also available in cities.
• Cities have better drainage systems, meaning they usually avoid floods.
• Cities have a very good supply of electricity and often have power plants near to it.
• Cities have good schools and colleges and universities and many books are available which help with good education opportunities.
• Cities often have factories near them for the production of goods and materials for the people.
• The differences are visible even in small town and big towns, a large city will offer more greater choices.

Good Connectivity

• Cities have good means of transport like trains, buses, trams, cars. They also have airplanes in airports for travelling longer distances or for going to other countries.
• Cities have ports for bringing in good and people from far off places.
• Public transport options are available in plenty of cities, meaning that a lot of people can travel together and save fuel and also save money for the same.

Municipality & Proper Sewage Systems

• Water is usually provided well by municipalities and the government.
• Drinking water is often provided by the government which is purified and circulated from filtration plants maintained by the state.
• Cities have good sewage systems for keeping it clean and hygiene is maintained.
• Cities have waste management departments for better waste disposal and management.

Proper Infrastructure

• Cities have big buildings and places of interest. They have offices and headquarters of companies.
• Cities have movie theaters and shopping complexes and places to see. They have parks and markets and restaurants for eating out and hotels for staying.
• More offices in cities mean that more jobs are available there and people often come to cities to earn their living and stay there.
• Cities have libraries to help students and researchers find books in an affordable way and continue their studies.
• Cities have big five — star hotels to provide top — class service and amenities. They have coffee shops, grocery stores, big stadiums for cricket and football matches where a lot of people can sit and watch the games.

Environment Friendly and Cultural Diversity

• With growing concern about the environment, more and more trees are being planted in parks in cities and greenery is being enhanced.
• Cities have a huge diversity of culture due to people from various backgrounds living there together.
• Cities have a lot of cultural places for watching and enjoying festivals and dance shows and music events. Hustle and bustle in urban areas is enjoyed by vast variety of people.

Availability Of Internet And Other Facilities

• With growing internet services, cities have internet connections and provide wireless connectivity to people so that they can connect to the internet.
• Online shopping websites supply goods to most cities via couriers and shopping is thus made easy, by buying from the comfort of the home.
• Modern cities have many apartments instead of individual houses and thus, housing problems are somewhat solved due to many flats in single buildings.
• Cities have better postal service and couriers for sending and receiving letters and things.
• Cities have a better system of police to help us during problems and firemen to help in case of fire.
• In most cities, there are big courts for resolving legal troubles and for getting justice in case of problems and crimes.
• Cities offer great ways of engaging in sports and such activities through clubs and parks. They often have golf courses and fields for athletes.

Also Read: Difference between village life and city life

Other advantages of living in the city:

1. Better & Reliable Public Transportation – because of the high population density in urban areas, public transportation is a basic requirement for people living in a city. Good public transit acts as a lifeline for the city and thus needs to be reliable, accessible & efficient. The need of having a private vehicle may be felt, but it’s necessity depends on individuals since most of the daily and routine trips can be made using the public transport. This is one of the many advantages of living in a city. Big cities have more developed transit systems as compared to small towns, but still, they remain much better and reliable than rural area.
2. Multiple Housing options – Owning a house in urban areas and especially large cities, is not really possible all the time. It depends on the person’s income & affordability. But urban areas provide wider options, you can always rent or share a house. Co-living is one such emerging concept. Since there are people coming from various places, you have more options available to meet your requirements and budget. Having such diverse housing options is one of the many pros of living in the city. Real estate prices in big cities such as San Francisco, Ney York, London, Mumbai etc. are amongst the highest which results in higher cost of living in such cities however they provide many advantages.
3. A fast pace of life – Some of us like to live a fast pace of life. Things should be happening all around us, and we just want to get things done as quickly as possible. This is the way of life in most urban areas. You will find people in a hurry, going from one place to another all the time. Everyone is busy doing something or other. The fast pace of life is one of the reasons for living in a city.
4. More Exposure & opportunities – Since cities are home to people from various backgrounds, expectations, background, learning, skill sets, they provide a unique combination of such people. This provides you with more exposure as everyone has their own way of doing work and living life. You get to learn more from others.
5. Cultural Diversity & vibrant communities – Some large cities attract people from various cultural backgrounds. The mix becomes so large at times that the own identity of the town or city is hard to identify. Each culture has something to present, and people start experimenting and exploring other cultures as well.
6. Shopping/ Specialized Needs – Cities are home to the largest shopping areas and specialized shops, showrooms. This is especially an advantage of living in a big city. No matter what your requirement is or how exclusive it is, you will always find the person or dealer for your needs. Such specialized shops are possible in cities because of the large population. Each type of business/ activity needs a threshold population to sustain itself, as explained in Central Place Theory by Walter Christaller.

Obviously, there are a lot more advantages to city life and also a few disadvantages. For example, increased exposure to various types of pollution, but it is true that a city brings more exposure and connects people to the world in comparison to rural life. There has been a growth in the city population in India and other countries. It is estimated that nearly 70% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2025. This is a large number and suggests that we should be more cautious about finding more opportunities and a better life for people in cities. Although there is a difference between cities themselves and competition between them, migrating from rural life to city life can be both challenging and exciting at the same time. It would be beneficial to adjust to city life and embrace the change because of the vast number of opportunities it offers.

People always tend to choose cities to live in. This is due to the presence of a larger scope for enjoying services and improved facilities and, therefore, enjoying a better quality of living. The benefits of cities are innumerable and are always plus points. Especially for those looking for better opportunities in life and achieving more in the fields they are interested in. With the advancement of technology, cities are becoming bigger and more sophisticated, and more and more opportunities are opening up towards a brighter and happier future.

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