This “Ideal City” activity can be done as an extension of
questions 2, 3 or 6 of Unit 3. Refer to definitions
of “infrastructure” and “services” in the text.
- Think about your home. What would it be like without light?
Do you watch television? Do you shower everyday or wash the
vegetables? What if there were no water? How do you get from home
to school or to your friends' homes? What if there were no roads?
- Your home is a “structure” built from wood or bricks. But it
has strong beams and a srong foundation to hold it up; it could
have plumbing to get water to you and cables to bring you
electrcity. These are part of its “infrastructure”. The city is a
larger version of the same thing—it has cables and plumbing
running all through it to take things such as water and
electricity to the inhabitants.
- In this way, your daily life is tied to the life of the
city, your home is part of a city's environment. Without a city
infrastructure your life would be different. Of course, not all
cities have all the necessary infrastructure and those that do,
don't have them in all neighborhoods. This is something you
should keep in mind.
(As explained in the text: the cables drawn in the city are
part of the infrastructure; providing electricity is part of the
services. With transport it is the same: roads are part of the
infrastructure; buses are part of the services.)
- Think of other examples of infrastructure without which your
city would not function as smoothly. Now think of examples of
infrastructure that your city does not have or needs to improve
on—the first three columns of your “Planning Table” could give
you some ideas. Draw two more columns in your “Planning Table”.
Place all your examples in the fourth column (call it
“Infrastructure”).
- Compare this column to the previous three. Are there any
items in this last column that were not mentioned in the other
ones? If so, discuss in which column the item would fit and place
it there as well.
|
