Have there always been cities The trend is cities are increasingly becoming the dominant mode of man’s social existence. 【F1】 It is virtually impossible to imagine that universities, hospitals, large businesses or even science and technology could have come into being without cities to support them, and cities have traditionally been the areas where there was a concentration of culture as well as of opportunity. 【F2】 In recent years, however, people have begun to become aware that cities are also areas where there is a concentration of problems. Actually, long before this century started, there had begun a trend toward the concentration of the poor of the American society into the cities. Each great wave of immigration from abroad and from the rural areas made the problem worse. Within the cities, sections may be sharply divided into high and low rent districts, the "right side of town" and the slums. Of course, everyone wants to do something about this unhappy situation. But there is no agree ment as to goals. Neither is there any systematic approach or integrated program. Opinions are as diverse as the people who give them. 【F3】 But one basic difference of opinion concerns the question of whether or not the city as such is to be preserved. 【F4】 And there is also the objection that the city has always been the core from which cultural advancement has radiated, but is this still the case today in the presence of easy transportation and communication Does culture arise as a result of people living together communally, or is it too the result of decisions made at the level of government and the communications industry Most people prefer to preserve the cities. Some think that the cities could be cleaned up or totally rebuilt. A great rebuilding project would give jobs to many of those people who need them. Living conditions could not help but improve, at least for a while. But would the problems return after the rebuilding was completed Nevertheless, with the majority of the people living in urban areas, the problem of the cities must be solved. 【F5】 From agreement on this general goal, we have, unfortunately, in the past proceeded to disagreement on specific goals, and from there to total inaction. At the basis of much of this inaction is an old-fashioned concept—the idea human conditions will naturally tend to regulate themselves for the general goal.【F2】