2.

2 Principles of town planning 17

 Insert the words and check your solutions at the back of the book.
proportions · equal · growth · rate · fraction · peak · marginally · minority
per cent · decreasing · projections · majority · share · percentage · rise

The following diagram shows the (1) ….....…..……. of the world population from 1950
onwards. The last bars are (2) ….....…..……. , which show that the population will continue to
(3) ….....…..……. . According to scientists, a (4) ….....…..……. is not expected in the next
decades. The lines in the diagram show the (5) ….....…..……. of the population living in either
rural or urban environments. In 1950, the (6) ….....…..……. of the population lived in the
countryside; there was only a low (7) ….....…..……. of city dwellers. Whereas, up until 2000,
the number of rural residents grew only (8) ….....…..……. , the number of urban residents
increased at almost the same (9) ….....…..……. as the population. The crossover point of the
two graphs in 2007 highlights the time at which an (10) ….....…..……. proportion of persons
lived outside and inside of cities. Today 55 (11) ….....…..……. of the world population live in
urban areas. The (12) ….....…..……. of rural residents is (13) ….....…..……. . This
development is expected to continue with the result that, in future, a larger (14) ….....…..…….
of the population will be urban dwellers, while the (15) ….....…..……. of the population will
live in the countryside.

2.2 Principles of town planning

Town planning is a process requiring a mix of disciplines. These include subjects such as
engineering, architecture, surveying, transportation planning and much more. The intention of
town planning is to satisfy the needs of today’s residents and future generations and prevent the
haphazard growth of urban centres.