Are cities the engines of progress or of inequality?
Side one
Cities drive growth
Cities concentrate talent, jobs and ideas. Urbanisation lifts incomes and opportunities.
Adam Smith: Markets and Sympathy · Enlightenment Now · The Tipping PointSide two
Cities widen gaps
Urban growth produces slums, informal work and neglected villages. Gains go to a few.
Gandhi: Truth and Nonviolence · Marx: Class and Labour · Ela Bhatt: Organising Informal WorkersCommon ground
Both want better lives for migrants and residents.
How to reconcile them
Plan cities for affordable housing and services while investing in villages, so migration is a choice, not a compulsion.
When each side is right
Praise cities for productivity. Criticise unplanned urbanisation when discussing housing, informality and rural neglect.
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