Page 78 - Grasp English B1+ (Workbook)

8 Expectations

Alan Marshall, a university professor, has worked with students around the
world to create an ecotopian view of some of the world’s biggest cities.
The Ecotopia Project is based on a book written 500 years ago called
Utopia, which presented an ideal world. Marshall’s work presents an idea
of what life could be like in 2121, if we successfully dealt with a number of
the environmental and economic threats we currently face.

With people living longer, there is a huge issue in providing
pensions to elderly people, and the government decides to
cut funding. In anger, millions of elderly residents of London
take to the streets in protest and block the city’s road and other
transport networks. People living in London notice better air
quality and work together with the elderly to convert unused
offices into communities for the homeless, unemployed and
other residents. They also create gardens on street corners
London, United Kingdom and grow vegetables to feed the local population.

The people of Almaty have always been proud of their apple
trees, but at one point Almaty was also one of the world’s most
polluted cities, with large smoky factories and the huge number
of cars on its streets. Fortunately, Marshall and his team predict
a future in which apple trees will once again cover the streets of
the city. They also say that people will have to pay an expensive
fee to bring their cars into the city, and they will offer free transport
for people who are registered “non-car owners”, as well as
encourage people to be more active by walking and cycling.
Almaty, Kazakhstan

On the topic of cars, the extensive Los Angeles tram system
was shut down in the 1940s and 50s by a group of competitive
car companies. However, Marshall predicts that Los Angeles
will once again have a vast tram network as we will run out
of fossil fuels to power cars. Furthermore, many people are
nervous about the effects of the climate crisis on the city, and
Marshall predicts that during the 21 century, Los Angeles will
st
become a less pleasant place to live with rising temperatures
Los Angeles, USA and a higher risk of fires in the surrounding countryside.

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