Today’s modern cities often have three characteristic areas. The centre of the city is called downtown. It consists of stores, banks, government buildings and cultural attractions. Many people come to work in the downtown area. In large cities, the downtown area is full of skyscrapers.

An industrial region with factories, warehouses, mills, and other industries lies around the downtown area.

Suburbs are the places farthest away from the city centre. They are new residential areas where most people live. Suburbs have their own stores and shopping malls, but people often have to travel an hour or longer to get to work downtown.



structure of a city

Typical structure of a city
Image:  "Structure of a city" by Klaus Rosmanitz,  CC BY-SA 4.0

Words

  • attraction = something interesting to see
  • characteristic = very typical of something
  • consist of = made up of
  • mill = factory that produces material like cotton, cloth, or paper
  • residential area = part of town where only people live; there are no factories or offices
  • shopping mall = shopping centre with many types of stores
  • skyscraper = very tall and modern building
  • suburb = area far away from the city centre where many people live
  • warehouse = large building where many products are stored