Monster Cities
Are big cities wonderful places? Are they terrible? There are different ideas about this. William H. Whyte writes books about cities. He is happy in a crowded city. He loves busy streets with many stores and many people. He likes the life in city parks and restaurants.
Many people don't like big cities. They see the large population of cities and they are afraid. Many cities are growing very fast. They are "monster" cities. (A monster is a big, terrible thing.) in some countries there are no jobs in small towns. People go to cities to work. For example, 300,000 people go to Sمo Paulo, Brazil, every year. In china, about 183, 000 people move to Beijing from the countryside every year. Sمo Paulo and Beijing are both megacities.
A megacity is a very, very big city. It includes the main city and the cities and towns around it. Population density is the number of people in one square mile (2.59 square kilometers). There are big problems in mega cities. In many U.S. cities there are many people with no jobs and no homes; the air is dirty. A terrible problem is crime. Many people art afraid of crime. People want to feel safe.