14/03/2019 In some countries, small town-center shops are going out of business

because people tend to drive to large out-of-town stores. As a result, people without
cars have limited access to out-of-town stores, and it may result in an increase in the
use of cars. Do you think the disadvantages of this change outweigh its advantages?

Some nations are witnessing the closure of mini-scale shops located in the town center
due to consumers’ preference to shop in large suburban ones. This radical change has
led to the inaccessibility to stores in rural areas for individuals without cars and the
accelerating car usage. From my standpoint, the benefits are eclipsed by the
drawbacks.

Admittedly, the emergence of large retail outlets can be advantageous to the overall
development of rural areas, particularly on economic and societal level. As shop owners
in less populated areas have to pay less operational costs, there would be a great
disparity in the selling price of goods between metropolitans and outskirts. This seems
to encourage trading practice, helping foster economic growth. Furthermore, the stores’
smooth operation obviously needs to recruit remarkable staff resources, which in turn
creates employment opportunities for inhabitants. Should a large proportion of the
population earns a stable salary, such persistent problems as criminality and poverty
will be alleviated.

However, the disadvantages of this trend are far more significant. One rationale is that
the mounting number of cars heading for suburbs would pose serious threats to the
local environment, thus exerting adverse impacts on health conditions. Exhausts from
cars in fact contain a considerable amount of carbon dioxide; the more people drive
cars on the road, the more harmful pollutants accumulate in the long run. This can
culminate in air pollution, which ostensibly causes respiratory diseases to humans.
Another justification is that traveling such a long distance to pick up goods might put
local people without personal vehicles to great inconvenience. Normally time spent on
such minor stuff takes up less if people browse things at nearby stores and other
activities, be it work or entertainment, would deservingly take precedence over. Yet, in
this case, not only are long journeys to the outskirts time-consuming but they also
consistently wear people’s patience out.

In conclusion, it is my belief that the perks of this aforementioned development should

not come at the expense of environmental degradation, human well-being and shopping
comfort.