You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

When a new town is planned, it is more important to develop public parks and sports facilities than shopping centres for people to spend their time in. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge. Write at least 250 words. 

There exists a view that when a new town is planned, public parks and sports facilities should be given to more importance than shopping centres. I cannot agree to this view because of two specific reasons.

 The first reason why I hesitate to agree is because of the fact that any such priority should be given based on the size of the population and its needs, which is expected to live there. To be precise, if a town is planned near a city, where the density is too high, the priority should be open spaces like parks, gardens and swimming pools, and this would be greatly benefit the expected residents there than piling up more number of  shopping malls. On the other hand, if the town is in a suburban locality, commercial establishments should be given more priority to facilitate the people.

 The second reason behind my disagreement is because of the impracticality of such a move. For instance, the construction and maintenance of public parks and sports centres require a huge share of the tax-payers money. The swelling population and the resultant lack of space is another issue. Finally, when compared to shopping malls, which can benefit the state by means of revenue, shop owners who can gain profit, and customers who can get all things under one roof, parks and sports centres are expected to benefit a fewer number.

 I admit that every town should meet the general requirements of its citizens, and I strongly support that there should be public parks and sports centres in every new city planned. However, I feel that the priority cannot be decided without considering the aforementioned factors.

 To conclude, though public parks and sports facilities are the needs of today’s towns, various factors have to be considered before setting their priority over popular centres like shopping malls.