[originaltext]INTERVIEWER: You’re an expert on the urban problem, Mr. Cross. I

INTERVIEWER: You’re an expert on the urban problem, Mr. Cross. I wonder how you would describe the characteristics of these enormous cities which have sprung up in Asia and Latin America?
INTERVIEWEE: The first point to make is that they are different from large cities in Europe and America.
INTERVIEWER: Surely all large cities are essentially similar.
INTERVIEWEE: It’s true that in all large cities there are the same problems of provision of housing and services, but the difference lies in the time factor.
INTERVIEWER: I know some of the cities we are considering are just as old and, in some cases, much older than cities in the United States, for instance.
INTERVIEWEE: Very true, but the large cities of Europe and the United States grew relatively slowly. London had u population of mom than a million at the beginning of the nineteenth century and this number grew for more than a hundred years until it reached its maximum of more than eight million. And this growth was parallel to industrial growth throughout the country. The same is true of New York, for example.
INTERVIEWER: But this in not true of Mexico city or Buenos Aires?
INTERVIEWEE: No, it is not. Throughout Latin America and in parts of Asia, cities have grown much faster than industry, or agriculture for that matter.  Some of these cities have quadrupled in size in less than two decades, while industrial  growth over the same period may only have reached thirty or forty percent.
INTERVIEWER: What does this mean?
INTERVIEWEE: Essentially that population growth of the employed are out of step. Much of the increase is due to immigration from the land, a movement of people in search of better conditions.
INTERVIEWER: And many fail to find jobs?
INTERVIEWEE: Most find some kind of employment but few find jobs in industry. The greater number are sub-employed, many doing casual jobs such as cleaning cars for tips.
INTERVIEWER: Why can’t industry absorb them?
INTERVIEWEE: There are a number of reasons. Law educational standards and lack of training are one reason. The nature of so much modem industry is another.
INTERVIEWER: You mean the kind of jobs industry can offer?
INTERVIEWEE: Much industry today is capital intensive, not labor intensive. An automated factory or plant may produce a great deal but employ few workers.
INTERVIEWER: Are there other causes of growth in these cities?
INTERVIEWEE: Well, we must set the cities and their growth against a background of rising birthrates and falling mortality rates, and these, of course, are closely related to rising standards of public health.
INTERVIEWER: So it seems no easy solution to the problem of these gigantic cities now.
INTERVIEWEE: No.