Why read this: This article uses a clear three-way comparison — Jakarta, Dhaka and Delhi versus Tokyo — to argue that Asian megacities feel hard to live in mainly because authority is shared badly between local offices, not because they are too poor. The piece is short and concrete, so B2 readers can follow the reasoning while still meeting cross-subject academic vocabulary like 'governance', 'metropolitan area' and 'middle-income trap'. It also gives students a useful real-world example of cause and effect: fragmented authority leads to traffic, pollution and wasted infrastructure, even when there is money to spend.
What to notice: Watch how the writer builds an argument by accumulating evidence rather than stating a thesis on the first line. The opening paragraph reframes which city is biggest; only in paragraphs four and five does the central claim about fragmented governance appear, supported by Jakarta's traffic, the metro line that stops at the city border, and the divided authority across Dhaka and Delhi. Notice also the contrast structure: problems are clustered in Jakarta, then Tokyo is offered as a counter-model. Pay attention to hedging words ('can wipe out', 'could be huge', 'does not always cost a fortune'); they show that the writer is making a likely argument, not stating a certainty. Finally, look at how named examples (the metro line, Adhika Ajie's quote, the train statistic about Tokyo) are used as evidence rather than decoration.
Skills practised: Comparison-contrast reading across more than two cases; tracking a delayed thesis through several paragraphs; recognising cause-and-effect signalled by 'because', 'so' and 'as a result'; reading hedged claims accurately rather than as absolute statements; and using context plus margin glosses to handle B2-level academic vocabulary like 'metropolitan area', 'centralised authority' and 'satellite cities'. Students also practise turning evidence into a one-sentence summary and evaluating whether the article's prescriptive conclusion follows from the evidence presented.
Why Asia's biggest cities feel so hard to live in
Jakarta, Dhaka and Delhi struggle with traffic and pollution. Tokyo shows a calmer way to run a giant city.
Tap any green word in the article to see its meaning.
For seventy years Tokyo was thought to be the world's biggest city, but new UN figures released last month tell a different story. Until recently the UN counted only people living inside each country's official city limits, and the new report finally accepts the reality of urban sprawl: the way a city's built-up area spreads outward into surrounding land — 城市蔓延. Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, now tops the list with 42 million people — almost as many as live in Canada. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, has reached 37 million, while Delhi follows close behind. Tokyo, once the largest, has slipped to fourth place with 33 million.
These numbers point to huge urban growth, and most of it is happening in middle-income Asia, where only one of the world's ten biggest cities lieslie: To be placed or situated. — 位于；坐落于 outside the region. By 2050 Jakarta and Dhaka together will add another 25 million people. Most newcomersnewcomer: One who has recently come to a community; a recent arrival. — 新来者；新到的人 move there hoping for a better life. "Dhaka changed my life and securedsecure: To obtain or achieve something with effort; to fix or fasten firmly. — 获得；确保；固定 my kids' educationeducation: The process of imparting knowledge, skill and judgment. — 教育；教育过程," says Clinton Chakma, a waiter who arrived from a farm in 2022.
Yet there is also a real risk: as Asian cities grow, dirt, pollution and traffic can wipewipe: To remove by rubbing; to rub off; to obliterate; usually followed by away, off, or out — 擦掉；抹去；消除 out the economic gains they bring. "People move to cities to be part of the labour market: the system in which people look for jobs and employers look for workers — 劳动力市场," says Alain Bertaud of New York University, but when that market does not work properly, poor people simply stay poor. Today Jakarta, Dhaka and Delhi all rank among the worst cities to live in, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, and Dhaka comes third from last in the world.
If Asian countries want to escape the middle-income trap: an economic situation where a country gets stuck at a moderate income level and stops getting richer — 中等收入陷阱, they must fix the problems that damage their cities. The best way to do so is not by building one project at a time but by changing how cities are run. Jakarta is a useful example: over the years it has swallowedswallow: To cause food or drink to pass down the throat; to accept something without protest. — 吞咽；咽下 several satellite cities: smaller cities that grow up around a bigger central city — 卫星城 around it, yet there is almost no cooperationcooperation: (usually uncountable) The act of cooperating. — 合作；协作 among their separate governments. A metropolitan area: a big city plus the smaller towns and suburbs around it that work as one connected area — 都市圈（大都会区） as large as a small country is therefore run like a noisy crowd of strangers.
The price of this fragmented governance: a way of running a city where authority is split across many separate offices that don't coordinate — 碎片化治理 is clearest in Jakarta's awful traffic, which ranks twelfth most jammed in the world. Dhaka comes third and Delhi seventh. Because many workers cannot afford homes near their offices, they live in far-flung suburbs: outer suburbs that are very far from the city centre — 偏远郊区 and relyrely: To depend on someone or something with full trust or confidence. — 依赖；依靠 on cars or scootersscooter: A kick scooter or push scooter; a human-powered land vehicle with a handlebar, deck and wheels that is propelled by a rider pushing off the ground. — 踏板车；滑板车 since public transport is poor. The result is constantconstant: Occurring continuously over a period of time; unchanging — 持续的；不变的 gridlockgridlock: A condition of total, interlocking traffic congestion on the streets or highways of a crowded city, in which no one can move because everyone is in someone else's way. — （交通）大堵塞；瘫痪 and dirty air, and Jakarta's government estimatesestimate: To calculate roughly, often from imperfect data — 估计 that traffic jams cost the local economy six billion dollars every year.
Jakarta opened its first metrometro: An underground railway. — 地铁 line in 2019, but it stops at the city's official border, well short of the suburbs where most workers actually live. "Without coordinationcoordination: The process of organising people or activities so that they function together smoothly and efficiently — 协调；配合；协同 across the whole urban area, it is uselessuseless: Not fulfilling or not expected to achieve the intended purpose; having no ability or skill. — 无用的；无效的," says Adhika Ajie, a seniorsenior: Of a higher rank or longer service; relating to older people. — 高级的；资深的；年长的 researcher in Jakarta's city government. Dhaka and Delhi face similar problems, with authority splitsplit: To break or cause to break into parts; to divide or share something. — 分裂；分开；分摊 between city offices, the state, the national government and many other agenciesagency: An organisation or business that provides a particular service, often on behalf of others. — 机构；代理公司 that rarely talk to one another.
Tokyo offers a better model. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government handleshandle: To manage or deal with a situation, person, or task. — 处理；应对 big city-wide services such as water, sewagesewage: Sewerage. — 下水道系统 and hospitals, while twenty-three smaller districtsdistrict: An area of a country or city defined for administrative or other purposes. — 地区；区域 and many neighbouringneighbouring: Situated or living nearby or adjacent to — 邻近的；附近的 towns sit beneathbeneath: In or to a lower position than; under or below. — 在……下面；在……之下 it, each with its own electedelect: To choose someone to hold a position by voting. — 选举；推选 mayormayor: The elected head of a city or town. — 市长. These local councilscouncil: A group of people elected or chosen to make decisions or give advice on a particular subject. — 委员会；议会 look after schools, waste management: the system of collecting, sorting and disposing of rubbish — 废物管理 and parks, and the metropolitan government coordinates between them. The result is a sensiblesensible: Easily perceived; appreciable. — 明智的；合情合理的 split of duties rather than one centralised authority: decision-making power held in one main place rather than spread across many offices — 集中（化）的权力. A densedense: Closely compacted in substance; containing a great deal of matter in a small space; thick or concentrated. — 密集的；稠密的；浓密的 train network ties everything together, and more than ninety percent of people in greater Tokyo live within a twenty-minute walk of a station.
Of course, Tokyo is far richer than Jakarta or Dhaka, and when it first reached twenty million people in 1965 Japan was already a wealthywealthy: Possessing financial wealth; rich — 富裕的；有钱的 country. But Asia's poorer megacitiesmegacity: A very large city; a megalopolis — 特大城市（人口超过一千万的城市） do not need to wait for wealthwealth: An abundance of valuable possessions or money; a plentiful supply of something. — 财富；富裕 before improving, because better governance does not always cost a fortunefortune: A large amount of money or wealth; chance or luck as a force affecting human affairs. — 财富；运气. Reformingreform: To put into a new and improved form or condition; to restore to a former good state, or bring from bad to good — 改革；改进 how power is shared is harder than simply spending money on big projects, but the rewardsreward: Something given in recognition of service, effort, or achievement. — 奖励；报酬；回报 could be huge.
For seventy years Tokyo was thought to be the world's biggest city, but new UN figures released last month tell a different story. Until recently the UN counted only people living inside each country's official city limits, and the new report finally accepts the reality of urban sprawl: the way a city's built-up area spreads outward into surrounding land — 城市蔓延. Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, now tops the list with 42 million people — almost as many as live in Canada. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, has reached 37 million, while Delhi follows close behind. Tokyo, once the largest, has slipped to fourth place with 33 million.
These numbers point to huge urban growth, and most of it is happening in middle-income Asia, where only one of the world's ten biggest cities lieslie: To be placed or situated. — 位于；坐落于 outside the region. By 2050 Jakarta and Dhaka together will add another 25 million people. Most newcomersnewcomer: One who has recently come to a community; a recent arrival. — 新来者；新到的人 move there hoping for a better life. "Dhaka changed my life and securedsecure: To obtain or achieve something with effort; to fix or fasten firmly. — 获得；确保；固定 my kids' educationeducation: The process of imparting knowledge, skill and judgment. — 教育；教育过程," says Clinton Chakma, a waiter who arrived from a farm in 2022.
Yet there is also a real risk: as Asian cities grow, dirt, pollution and traffic can wipewipe: To remove by rubbing; to rub off; to obliterate; usually followed by away, off, or out — 擦掉；抹去；消除 out the economic gains they bring. "People move to cities to be part of the labour market: the system in which people look for jobs and employers look for workers — 劳动力市场," says Alain Bertaud of New York University, but when that market does not work properly, poor people simply stay poor. Today Jakarta, Dhaka and Delhi all rank among the worst cities to live in, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, and Dhaka comes third from last in the world.
If Asian countries want to escape the middle-income trap: an economic situation where a country gets stuck at a moderate income level and stops getting richer — 中等收入陷阱, they must fix the problems that damage their cities. The best way to do so is not by building one project at a time but by changing how cities are run. Jakarta is a useful example: over the years it has swallowedswallow: To cause food or drink to pass down the throat; to accept something without protest. — 吞咽；咽下 several satellite cities: smaller cities that grow up around a bigger central city — 卫星城 around it, yet there is almost no cooperationcooperation: (usually uncountable) The act of cooperating. — 合作；协作 among their separate governments. A metropolitan area: a big city plus the smaller towns and suburbs around it that work as one connected area — 都市圈（大都会区） as large as a small country is therefore run like a noisy crowd of strangers.
The price of this fragmented governance: a way of running a city where authority is split across many separate offices that don't coordinate — 碎片化治理 is clearest in Jakarta's awful traffic, which ranks twelfth most jammed in the world. Dhaka comes third and Delhi seventh. Because many workers cannot afford homes near their offices, they live in far-flung suburbs: outer suburbs that are very far from the city centre — 偏远郊区 and relyrely: To depend on someone or something with full trust or confidence. — 依赖；依靠 on cars or scootersscooter: A kick scooter or push scooter; a human-powered land vehicle with a handlebar, deck and wheels that is propelled by a rider pushing off the ground. — 踏板车；滑板车 since public transport is poor. The result is constantconstant: Occurring continuously over a period of time; unchanging — 持续的；不变的 gridlockgridlock: A condition of total, interlocking traffic congestion on the streets or highways of a crowded city, in which no one can move because everyone is in someone else's way. — （交通）大堵塞；瘫痪 and dirty air, and Jakarta's government estimatesestimate: To calculate roughly, often from imperfect data — 估计 that traffic jams cost the local economy six billion dollars every year.
Jakarta opened its first metrometro: An underground railway. — 地铁 line in 2019, but it stops at the city's official border, well short of the suburbs where most workers actually live. "Without coordinationcoordination: The process of organising people or activities so that they function together smoothly and efficiently — 协调；配合；协同 across the whole urban area, it is uselessuseless: Not fulfilling or not expected to achieve the intended purpose; having no ability or skill. — 无用的；无效的," says Adhika Ajie, a seniorsenior: Of a higher rank or longer service; relating to older people. — 高级的；资深的；年长的 researcher in Jakarta's city government. Dhaka and Delhi face similar problems, with authority splitsplit: To break or cause to break into parts; to divide or share something. — 分裂；分开；分摊 between city offices, the state, the national government and many other agenciesagency: An organisation or business that provides a particular service, often on behalf of others. — 机构；代理公司 that rarely talk to one another.
Tokyo offers a better model. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government handleshandle: To manage or deal with a situation, person, or task. — 处理；应对 big city-wide services such as water, sewagesewage: Sewerage. — 下水道系统 and hospitals, while twenty-three smaller districtsdistrict: An area of a country or city defined for administrative or other purposes. — 地区；区域 and many neighbouringneighbouring: Situated or living nearby or adjacent to — 邻近的；附近的 towns sit beneathbeneath: In or to a lower position than; under or below. — 在……下面；在……之下 it, each with its own electedelect: To choose someone to hold a position by voting. — 选举；推选 mayormayor: The elected head of a city or town. — 市长. These local councilscouncil: A group of people elected or chosen to make decisions or give advice on a particular subject. — 委员会；议会 look after schools, waste management: the system of collecting, sorting and disposing of rubbish — 废物管理 and parks, and the metropolitan government coordinates between them. The result is a sensiblesensible: Easily perceived; appreciable. — 明智的；合情合理的 split of duties rather than one centralised authority: decision-making power held in one main place rather than spread across many offices — 集中（化）的权力. A densedense: Closely compacted in substance; containing a great deal of matter in a small space; thick or concentrated. — 密集的；稠密的；浓密的 train network ties everything together, and more than ninety percent of people in greater Tokyo live within a twenty-minute walk of a station.
Of course, Tokyo is far richer than Jakarta or Dhaka, and when it first reached twenty million people in 1965 Japan was already a wealthywealthy: Possessing financial wealth; rich — 富裕的；有钱的 country. But Asia's poorer megacitiesmegacity: A very large city; a megalopolis — 特大城市（人口超过一千万的城市） do not need to wait for wealthwealth: An abundance of valuable possessions or money; a plentiful supply of something. — 财富；富裕 before improving, because better governance does not always cost a fortunefortune: A large amount of money or wealth; chance or luck as a force affecting human affairs. — 财富；运气. Reformingreform: To put into a new and improved form or condition; to restore to a former good state, or bring from bad to good — 改革；改进 how power is shared is harder than simply spending money on big projects, but the rewardsreward: Something given in recognition of service, effort, or achievement. — 奖励；报酬；回报 could be huge.
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
According to the article, why has Tokyo dropped from first to fourth place in the UN's list of biggest cities?
- 02
What does the article say is the main reason Jakarta's traffic is so bad?
- 03
Which sentence best summarises the article's overall argument?
- 04
How does Tokyo's system of local councils help avoid the problems that Jakarta faces? Use details from the article to support your answer.
Suggested length: ~80 words
- 05
Evaluate the claim that fixing governance is more important than spending money on big projects in Asia's megacities. Do you find the article's argument convincing? Why or why not?
Suggested length: ~80 words
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
According to the article, why has Tokyo dropped from first to fourth place in the UN's list of biggest cities?
- 02
What does the article say is the main reason Jakarta's traffic is so bad?
- 03
Which sentence best summarises the article's overall argument?
- 04
How does Tokyo's system of local councils help avoid the problems that Jakarta faces? Use details from the article to support your answer.
Suggested length: ~80 words
- 05
Evaluate the claim that fixing governance is more important than spending money on big projects in Asia's megacities. Do you find the article's argument convincing? Why or why not?
Suggested length: ~80 words