All 12 topic chaptersUrban Life
IELTS Writing Task 2: Urban Life, Housing & Transport Essay Questions
Urban life covers the questions candidates see out their own windows: traffic congestion, housing affordability, whether cities or the countryside offer a better life, how urbanisation changes communities. This chapter is strong territory for the problem–solution family, and the strongest evidence is observational — one concrete change in your own city over the past few years beats any generic paragraph about "modern urban areas".
How this topic is examined
41 questions in the current bank fall under this chapter, split by essay type:
- Opinion (agree/disagree)13
- Advantages & disadvantages9
- Discussion (both views)8
- Two-part question6
- Causes / problems / solutions5
High-frequency subtopics
Chapters are too broad to prepare directly — the working unit is the subtopic. These are the subtopics this chapter's questions cluster around:
- causes of traffic congestion
- impacts of traffic congestion
- public transportation
- road infrastructure
- disincentivizing private driving
- housing shortage impacts
- solutions to housing crisis
- housing challenges
- urban-rural differences
- benefits of city living
causes of traffic congestion
Free taste — one subtopic's idea bank- Increased car ownership, driven by higher incomes, is a primary factor in urban traffic congestion.
- Reliance on private vehicles as the main mode of transport exacerbates peak-hour traffic.
- Urban expansion forces residents to live further from city centers, increasing commuting distances.
Three of the idea sentences behind this subtopic. Inside the app, every subtopic in this chapter comes with a full idea bank and collocations, rebuilt around your own experience.
Questions in this chapter
Current questions in this chapter with free sample essays:
- As the major cities continue to grow, young people are facing more difficulties in their lives. What are the reasons? Ho…
- Car ownership has increased so rapidly over the past thirty years that there are constant traffic jams in many cities ar…
- In many cities, planners build shops, schools, offices and homes in specific areas which may be separated from each othe…
- In many cities, planners have decided to separate different areas like shops, schools, offices, and homes into different…
- In many cities, planners have located shops, schools, offices, and homes in specific areas which were widely separated f…
- In many countries, young people are moving from rural areas to cities to study or to find work. What are the reasons for…
- In some countries, small town center shops are going out of business because people tend to drive to large out-of-town s…
- In some countries, university students live with their families, while in other countries, students choose to study in a…
- In the past, people lived in one place for a long time, but now they can live in many different places. What are the rea…
- It is difficult for people living in cities to get enough physical exercise. What are the causes and what solutions can…
- Many cities replace farmlands and parks with houses. Is it a positive or negative development?
- More and more young people are moving from the countryside to cities, often for study or work. What are the reasons for…
- Not having enough homes in big cities causes serious problems, and only the government can solve this. To what extent do…
- People living in cities often find it difficult to get enough exercise. What are the causes of this? What can be done to…
- Plastic waste is building up in cities, the countryside, and oceans all over the world. What are the causes of this? Wha…
- Some cities have vehicle-free days when private cars, trucks and motorcycles are banned from the city center. People are…
- Some cities have vehicle-free days, when private cars and other vehicles are banned from the city centre and people have…
- Some countries invest more money to make it easier to use bicycles in cities. Why? Is it the best way to solve the trans…
- Some countries spend a lot of money on making it easier to use bicycles in cities. Why is this the case? Is this the bes…
- Some people believe that governments should provide free public libraries in every town and city. Others argue that this…
- Some people believe that living in cities, rather than in suburbs or the countryside, is the best way to solve problems…
- Some people believe that too much money is spent on looking after and repairing old buildings. We should knock them down…
- Some people prefer to live in a house, while others feel there are more advantages to living in an apartment. Are there…
- Some people think it is important to keep and maintain old buildings rather than replace them with new buildings. To wha…
- Some people think it is important to keep and maintain old buildings rather than replacing them with modern buildings. T…
- Some people think rapid population growth in cities only benefits people who live there while others believe that it has…
- Some people think that international trade mostly depends on fast and easy transport. Others believe that modern technol…
- Some people think that newly built houses should follow the style of old houses in the local areas. Others think that pe…
- Some people think that offering free public transport all the time is the best way for governments to reduce traffic jam…
- Some people think that the government should be responsible for transporting children to school, while others believe th…
- Some people think that the government should spend money on building subway and train lines to ease traffic congestion.…
- Some people think that the rapid growth of cities only benefits the people who live in them, while others believe that t…
- Some people think the newly built houses should be the same as the old houses in local areas. Others argue that local au…
- The best way for governments to solve traffic congestion is to provide free public transport 24 hours a day, 7 days a we…
- The best way to deal with the problem related to traffic and transportation is to encourage people to live in cities rat…
- The level of noise around us is constantly increasing, and is affecting the quality of our lives. What causes the noise?…
- The noise level around us is constantly increasing and affecting the quality of our lives. What causes this noise? What…
- The shortage of housing in big cities can cause severe consequences, and only government action can solve the problem. T…
- These days, food is often transported very long distances from where it is produced to where it is eaten. Do you think t…
- Some people think it is important to keep and maintain old buildings rather than replace them with new ones. To what ext…sample coming soon