Urban Vs Rural

While governments all across the world are gearing up to meet the future challenges; improving infrastructure, pumping money into research and design, increasing living standards, are the people gearing up to pack up and leave?I have always read about how devastating urban life is. Ever since elementary school, we have been grilled to write essays that spoke lengths about the danger of urbanization and the beauty of rural villages. To think about it, is it really that bad to live in a town?

The highlights of urban living could be classified as follows; abundance, self sufficiency, competitiveness high standard of living and crowd. Using these jargons, I feel good about living in the town already.

Is it a bad thing to have abundance of things and to be self sufficient? The high paying jobs are in the towns. There used to be a time when villagers talked, walked and dreamed about catching the next bus to the town to look for a living. Nowadays, it has been taken for granted that we are already here. We have all the things that we could possibly ask for. Hypermarkets, supermarkets, digital media, hi-fi studio apartments, ready-to-eat meals, the best schools , best teachers, best career guidance, best hospitals. We have electricity, telephone access and we are now wireless.

What is the problem with competitiveness? How do we survive if there is no competition. How would the world look if we lived in a PERFECT society? Nobody knows more, no one less. Everybody share the same information, have the same salary. And how possible is it? Don't you feel that would be a very boring society. How would you like it if your mother, father, friends, relatives, dog, teacher and everyone else had the same face as yours? BORING? Well, the analogy of a non competitive, perfect society would be such.

Now there is a notion about the high standard of living. I fail to understand what irritation one could have regarding this. Standard of living is raised, meaning that we live better, earn better and have best of everything.

Crowd. We are part of the crowd and we have a problem with ourselves. Don't you find this ridiculous?

Now that we have talked about the urban living, here is the catch. There is some things that urban life will not be able to provide you. A pollution free serene view. This, you can only find elsewhere. Anywhere but towns. A social setting where you know everyone, their family, friends, likes, dislikes etc.

I love my space in the modern, civilized and relatively crowded Singapore at present. I love the malls. I love the food. In fact I love everything about it. However, I would also like to experience a difference in environment every now and then. There is nothing really that is worth the comparison between urban and rural. Each has its own uniqueness. Make your choice and do visit the other sometime.