Cities have benefited more from the rise of living standard than the rural areas so that the gap
between the urban and rural areas has been widened. Consequently, a series of problems related to
the urban-rural gap arise.
As more budgets are invested in the infrastructure in the urban rather than the rural areas, urban
populationen joy better educational and medical resources as well as more convenient
transportation. To struggle for a better life, labors from rural areas rush into the cities, making
the already limited city space more and more crowded and resulting in the prohibitively high cost
of living. For those who migrate from rural areas tocities, they may have a hard time adjusting
themselves to the lifestyle incities since it is so very different from their previous country
life. As a result, they will face a job market so competitive that it will be extremely difficult
for them to find a satisfactory job. Then, with the ever increasing number of jobless young people
come more serious social problems like stealing, robbing and other crimes.
Another concern is that it is not always possible for children from rural areas to get access to
proper schooling in cities. Hence, these children have to be left behind in the countryside,
separated from their parents, and eventually find themselves unable to compete with those who grow
up in cities. Very unfortunately, as the educational resources keep pouring into the cities, the
rural children will remain unable to use them, which means the educational gap between the urban
and rural children may exist for quite along time.
To break the vicious cycle that will lead to a wider urban-rural gap, the government is obliged to
balance the development of cities and rural areas by investing more money in the public services
such as schools and hospitals and providing more job opportunities in rural areas. Besides,
agricultural tourism can be developed to bring income for the rural population. For those eager to
move to cities, the government should offer them more training opportunities to ensure they can
find their position in cities.