GRE Issue Essay

[valeria paez cala]

Hello!

My name is Valeria and I am studying for the GRE. What do you think about this GRE ISSUE ESSAY?

Claim: Governments must ensure that their major cities receive the financial support they need in order to thrive.

Reason: It is primarily in cities that a nation's cultural traditions are preserved and generated.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.

 

                The role of governments is delicate issue. Many claim that governments should ensure the financial support of their major cities in order to thrive and the reason why is that cities is where the nation’s cultural traditions are preserved and generated. Certainly, the flourish of a country is directly intertwined with the development of its cities; however, the fact that cities are the cultural tradition’s habitat is an argument that can easily be discussed.

                Nowadays, cities are the center of the economic growth of a country. A case in point could be Colombia, a country where more than 70% its economic development is handled in its three major cities: Bogotá, Medellin and Cali. Based on this point, it is fundamental that governments invest on their cities in order to improve and consolidate their economies.
When cities are successful, they become generators of opportunities not only for its inhabitants but also for the entire country. In the case of Medellin, some statistics show that, ever since the government increased its support to the city’s growth, a phenomenon has occurred: the rate of new foreign business opened every year has permanently augmented. In that order, the financial support of cities is also a contribution to the country in general.
Finally, cities are the major window of a country to the world; in other words, cities are the scenario where the cultural traditions of a society are shown to rest of the world. How can a city effectively assume that role? Regarding this, cities must be attractive, innovatory and challenging. In that way, it is very important that cities are underwritten by governments.
However, is it true that cities are the birthplace of the cultural traditions of a country? Even though the cities are worldwide scenarios, as mentioned above, the cultural traditions of a country are nascent in the small towns and villages where the effects of globalization are scanty. In that way, to preserve and generate the mores of a society it is equally important to fund cities as to fund small villages.

                Given these points, in order to have a balanced nation where the ethics of its society are in symbiosis to the feat of its cities, it is very important to promote financially both the cities and the countryside.