You will hear a recording. Type the missing words in each blank.

The development of urban areas is also closely (1) ……………………..  to the rural economy through the exchange of labor, goods, services, information and technology. Neglecting urban issues leads to (2) …………………….. social and environmental costs, however. In the two most (3) …………………………. regions that the World Bank serves, Latin America and Europe/Central Asia, over half of the poor already live in urban areas. By 2025, two-thirds of the poor in these regions, and one-third of the poor in East and (4) ……………….. Asia, will reside in cities or towns. The nature of urban (5) ……………… is more than an income or employment issue, and is also characterized by squalid living conditions; risks to life and health from poor (6) ……………………….., air pollution, crime and violence, traffic accidents, and natural disasters, and the breakdown of traditional familial and communal safety nets. Urban populations are also particularly hard hit by macro-financial (7) …………………………, such as the recent crises in East Asia and Russia. Urban environmental (8) …………………………. has the most immediate effects on poor urban residents but also has serious national and global impacts.

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