Discuss the impact of urbanization on two industrialized states.

Candidates will offer a considered and balanced review of how urbanization affected two industrialized states. While the focus of the response must be within the timeframe of this topic, the two states chosen need not be contemporaneous with each other and they may or may not be chosen from the same region. The period of urbanization to be discussed may vary in length according to the examples chosen as it may have been achieved relatively quickly or taken place over an extended period of time. Factors to be considered may include the growth of local and national government, in order to address a range of needs, including better sanitation and housing (to prevent the spread of epidemics), the provision of transportation links between cities, the need to find ways to address congestion and pollution and how to finance such projects. Candidates may also discuss the impact of urbanization on the growth of democracy and the spread of political ideologies, along with the breakdown of traditionally deferential societies. Each industrialized state may be considered separately or a thematic approach adopted to compare the impact on each state.