Positive or Negative Development Essay

➤ Choosing a side

Just like writing an opinion essay, do not worry so much about choosing the side here. You are not being judged on how well researched and structured your opinion is, it matters how well you put it out. How relevant your arguments are, and how well it all flows together. I will go on to even say that choose a side that you can defend, even if it is not your opinion.

⚑ Besides that, even though majority of the issues in the world are very complex and nuanced, but in IELTS writing task 2 try to choose one side, rather than being nuanced. Focus on simplicity than truth value.

Consider the given prompt:

“In many countries around the world, rural people are moving to cities, so the population in the countryside is decreasing. Do you think this is a positive or negative development?”

Before starting writing, we will simply choose the side, we can defend, that is whether this is a positive or a negative development. You can also choose more nuanced side, like it has positive and negative aspects, maybe negative aspects are more pronounced or it is other way around—✘ stop it! Why make life more difficult for you?

✔ For this sample essay, I will choose that this is a negative development, only because I have some arguments for this side.

🌟 Writing an introduction

A good introduction should have these three parts:

🔵 Topic sentence

🟢 Paraphrase of the question

🟣 Thesis statement

🔵 Topic sentence

This sentence is for simply introducing the topic. For this essay, topic is “migration to cities” and its effects, so our topic sentence can be:

“A considerable number of rural residents are migrating out of the countryside to cities, resulting in a rise of the urban population.”

🟢 Paraphrase of the question

Usually we have a separate sentence for the paraphrase; however, this is not a hard-and-fast rule. We can always play with our writing. Here, if you just look at the topic sentence, we have paraphrased the prompt already in the sentence.

Prompt: In many countries around the world, rural people are moving to cities, so the population in the countryside is decreasing.

Topic Sentence/Paraphrase: “A considerable number of rural residents are migrating out of the countryside to cities, resulting in a rise of the urban population.”

So, we do not need to write another sentence. The point is that sometimes you can combine paraphrase and topic sentence into one if it does both, that is introduce the topic and paraphrase the prompt.

🟣Thesis Statement

The most important part of any introduction is thesis statement. Thesis basically means “opinion”, so in this sentence you state your opinion, if you are asked obviously.

In a prompt, we are asked to argue whether migration to cities is a positive or a negative development, so we have to make it very clear what we think in this sentence. Is this a positive development? Or a negative development?

One thing to keep in mind is that it doesn’t matter what your real side is, just pick a side that you can defend. I have enough arguments for this to be a negative trend, so that’s what I will argue in the essay. Have a look at this sample thesis statement:

“It is a negative trend due to its impact on the job market and the environment.”

Another thing thesis statement does is that it makes clear what structure your essay will follow from that point onwards. Here, it is clear that I have two reasons for this being a negative trend: job market impact and the environment issues, so my first paragraph will be on job market, and the next one on the environment. It makes clear for the examiner as well, no surprises down the line.

So, our introduction end up being:

A considerable number of rural residents are migrating out of the countryside to cities, resulting in a rise of the urban population. It is a negative trend due to its impact on the job market and the environment.

🌟 Writing main body paragraphs

As mentioned earlier, we will have two body paragraphs, one paragraph for each argument.

🔹 Paragraph 1: effect on job market
🔸 Paragraph 2: effect on environment

✨ Structure of a body paragraph

Basically, a paragraph can come in any structure as long as it is cohesive and conveys your point across. (Coherence and Cohesion is one of four marking criteria in IELTS writing task 2. However, to keep it simple and straightforward, we try to include this information in a paragraph:

🟦 Topic sentence
🟩 Explanation
🟪 Example

Do you want me to also add a mini sample outline with the symbols (like a filled-in example for Paragraph 1) to make it even more practical for learners?

🔹 Paragraph 1

🌐 Topic sentence
As we have already written topic sentence before, so you must know what it does. Right? Exactly, it introduces the topic.

👉 Topic of this paragraph is not “migration to cities” but “migration to cities affecting the job market”, so our topic sentence is:

💬 “With an increasing number of people moving to cities, the job opportunities in cities are disappearing.”

It simply introduces one of the issues caused by this migration, and we will try to back this by providing arguments throughout the paragraph.

📘 Explanation + Example
We need to explain this issue, and provide an example. It does not matter the sequence, whether example comes first or the explanation; have a look:

💬 “Megacities, such as Tokyo, used to be economic hub of the countries like Japan, leading to many residents from rural side moving to the city. However, due to the ever-increasing population in the city and new people coming from across the country, the job market has been so negatively impacted that young college graduates have to compete for minimum-wage jobs. Workers approaching their retirement are not secure either. One report suggests that many jobless people coming from nearby villages are happy to work longer hours for lower pay.”

📝 I have given example of Tokyo. To be really honest, is this happening in Tokyo? It might be. You can easily replace Tokyo with any other city, be it Mumbai, Delhi, New York—does not matter! Because the truth absolutely doesn’t matter in IELTS test, just lie your way through it.

❓ Also, is there any report like that? Again, I have absolutely no idea!

🔸 Paragraph 2:

We will follow the same structure as we did in the first paragraph, but relate it to the environment. Have a look:

“Similarly, the environment is not safe with this influx of people to cities. As people rely heavily on their private transport, the air pollution in cities, such as Delhi, Karachi and Mumbai has worsened so much that millions of residents suffer from various respiratory issues. For instance, the study conducted by Delhi University found that the rise in tuberculosis and lung cancer is directly linked to air pollution caused by the exhaust fumes of vehicles. The increasing population not only affects air quality but also water quality. Cities are not designed to accommodate millions of people, and are thus unable to maintain adequate water quality standards due to rising demand. Therefore, one of the problems caused by this migration towards cities is the deteriorating quality of drinking water.”

🌟 Writing conclusion

This is the easiest part of writing an essay. Just rephrase your thesis statement, and your conclusion is done.

💬 “To conclude, rural residents migrating to cities lead to many problems related to employment and the environment, making this phenomenon quite negative.”

⚠️ Do not add anything new to your conclusion. Keep it as simple as you can!

✅ So, this is it—this is how you write an essay. Got a hang of it? Submit your essay for free assessment here.

📝 Full Sample Essay

“In many countries around the world, rural people are moving to cities, so the population in the countryside is decreasing. Do you think this is a positive or negative development?"

"A considerable number of rural residents are migrating out of the countryside to cities, resulting in a rise of the urban population. It is a negative trend due to its impact on the job market and the environment.

With an increasing number of people moving to cities, the job opportunities in cities are disappearing. Megacities, such as Tokyo, used to be economic hub of the countries like Japan, leading to many residents from rural side moving to the city. However, due to the ever-increasing population in the city and new people coming from across the country, the job market has been so negatively impacted that young college graduates have to compete for minimum-wage jobs. Workers approaching their retirement are not secure either. One report suggests that many jobless people coming from nearby villages are happy to work longer hours for lower pay.

Similarly, the environment is not safe with this influx of people to cities. As people rely heavily on their private transport, the air pollution in cities, such as Delhi, Karachi and Mumbai has worsened so much that millions of residents suffer from various respiratory issues. For instance, the study conducted by Delhi University found that the rise in tuberculosis and lung cancer is directly linked to air pollution caused by the exhaust fumes of vehicles. The increasing population not only affects air quality but also water quality. Cities are not designed to accommodate millions of people, and are thus unable to maintain adequate water quality standards due to rising demand. Therefore, one of the problems caused by this migration towards cities is the deteriorating quality of drinking water.

To conclude, rural residents migrating to cities lead to many problems related to employment and the environment, making this phenomenon quite negative.”