Band 9 model answer
As cities strain to accommodate rising populations, planners repeatedly confront an awkward dilemma: should they protect their historic buildings or clear them to make room for the new? Both camps argue forcefully, and I shall consider each before setting out my own, qualified position.
Those who favour demolition appeal to practicality. Old structures are often cramped, energy-inefficient and ill-suited to modern needs, occupying valuable central land that could house far more people or businesses. Replacing them with modern towers, the argument runs, maximises space, generates jobs and equips the city for the future. Where a building is genuinely derelict, this logic is hard to dispute.
Preservationists, however, insist that historic architecture carries an irreplaceable value. Old buildings embody a city's identity and collective memory, lending streets a character that sterile glass towers can never reproduce. They also draw tourists and, increasingly, can be sympathetically refurbished to meet modern standards rather than flattened. Once demolished, such heritage is gone for ever, and no replacement can restore it.
In my view, the wisest course lies between the two extremes. Cities should preserve buildings of genuine historical or architectural worth while permitting the redevelopment of those that are merely old and without merit. Better still, adaptive reuse, modernising a structure behind a protected facade, often satisfies both sides, marrying heritage with the practical demands of growth.
Examiner’s notes
- Task Response: both views receive substantial, even treatment and the writer adopts a clear middle position, naming 'adaptive reuse' as a concrete synthesis rather than sitting on the fence.
- Coherence and Cohesion: contrast between camps is marked precisely with 'Those who favour demolition…' and 'Preservationists, however, insist…', and the conclusion reconciles them logically.
- Lexical Resource: topic-specific terms like 'derelict', 'sympathetically refurbished', 'sterile glass towers' and 'adaptive reuse' display sophisticated, accurate vocabulary.