The world has many towns and cities constructed in previous centuries that are suitable and livable for people in those times. What problems will this cause today and what can be done to solve them?

The world has many towns and cities constructed in previous centuries that are suitable and livable for people in those times. What problems will this cause today and what can be done to solve them?

In many modern cities, the construction of their central districts can be originated to past centuries, people’s living standards in which however is no longer as good as before, because of some social and environmental problems.

First, as for social problems, the infrastructure in old cities or towns fail to meet the increasing demand of growing population. For example, limited provision of houses brings about higher cost of living, which makes some disadvantaged people end up being homeless, and narrow streets account for frequent traffic congestions.

Besides, the incompetence of disposing waste can lead to environmental problems. The majority of cities built in previous centuries have not been equipped with waste recycle and disposing facilities, which become indispensable in modern society, featured by high consumption and large amount of waste. Examples include some medical waste produced in COVID-19 pandemic, which put forward a great challenge to those old cities.

And solutions to these problems lie in scientific redesign and reasonable urban layout. It has already been proved effective for old cities to move some business or industries to their outskirts to mitigate  severe problems, or their municipal administration  can also fund some programs to upgrade the infrastructures like broadening urban roads and modernize sewage system.

However, these old cities and towns are also able to benefit from their history which may be a valuable educational resource for schooling. So instead of destroying or totally changing them, improving them, as well as preserving some historical relics they contain at the same time, may be a better option.