© ESL Study Guide
Topic: Should a city try to preserve its old, historic buildings or destroy them and replace them with modern buildings? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
There is often a lot of debate regarding historic buildings and whether they should be preserved or torn down. While some people say that historic buildings should be preserved, others think that they should be demolished to make room for new developments. I believe that historic buildings need to be preserved since it shows respect for past accomplishments and to serves as a historical landmark for future generations.
First, historic buildings serve as an important milestone of past accomplishments. When the old buildings were constructed, they showcased the technology and methodology of the era. Consider the Forbidden City in Beijing. The Forbidden City has stood for centuries as a landmark of Chinese history. While no longer having an emperor, China is proud of its history and what past emperor have helped develop. Such structures are far too important to tear down to make room for additional housing developments or shopping malls. It is a matter of national pride, and historic buildings help citizens maintain a sense of cultural identity through these past accomplishments. Nearly every country in the world has historic buildings, and they show what happened in the past and need to be preserved.
Second, historic buildings serve as a tool for conveying the history of the city and country. The palace of Versailles in France is of significant importance in French history. Walking through its halls, visitors can learn about the history of the country. For example, the Taj Mahal in India serves as a major historical reminder of Shah Jahan and his love of Mumtaz Mahal. With such an amount of historical significance, these buildings need to be preserved so that future generations will be able to learn some of their history first-hand. A large number of modern buildings are demolished regularly and serve little purpose other than housing or business, nothing that will ever become part of history. Give the problems associated with fast-food, modern buildings have little, if anything, to teach other than health problems. Therefore historic buildings should be preserved to teach people about history.
In short, people are not able to halt progress, but we can shape its course by remembering history. Historic buildings play an important role in this and should therefore be preserved. Historic buildings not only teach us about history but also serve to teach us about past accomplishments. This is why historic buildings should be preserved.