Contemporary urban planners frequently advocate for high-density mixed-use development as a solution to housing shortages and environmental concerns. ...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Contemporary urban planners frequently advocate for high-density mixed-use development as a solution to housing shortages and environmental concerns. While this approach shows promise in current applications, planners should recognize that urban development strategies must be adapted to local conditions, infrastructure capabilities, and community needs. Urban planners who apply high-density models uniformly across different contexts therefore ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
wrongly assume that high-density development addresses the same challenges in every urban environment.
tend to conflate current housing needs with long-term environmental concerns.
risk implementing development strategies that may not be contextually appropriate.
forgo analyzing local conditions in favor of applying standardized planning models.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Contemporary urban planners frequently advocate for high-density mixed-use development as a solution to housing shortages and environmental concerns." |
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| "While this approach shows promise in current applications, planners should recognize that urban development strategies must be adapted to local conditions, infrastructure capabilities, and community needs." |
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| "Urban planners who apply high-density models uniformly across different contexts therefore ______" |
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Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: While high-density mixed-use development shows promise, it must be adapted to local contexts rather than applied uniformly.
Argument Flow: The passage introduces a popular urban planning approach, acknowledges its potential, but warns that successful implementation requires local adaptation. It then sets up a criticism of planners who ignore this need for contextual adaptation by applying the same model everywhere.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The passage establishes that development strategies "must be adapted to local conditions, infrastructure capabilities, and community needs."
- If planners ignore this and apply models uniformly instead, the logical consequence would be implementing strategies that don't fit the specific context
- The right answer should capture this mismatch between uniform application and the need for local adaptation - essentially pointing out the risk or problem that comes from ignoring contextual factors
wrongly assume that high-density development addresses the same challenges in every urban environment.
✗ Incorrect
- Claims these planners make wrong assumptions about challenges being the same everywhere
- The passage focuses on implementation strategies, not assumptions about what challenges exist
tend to conflate current housing needs with long-term environmental concerns.
✗ Incorrect
- Suggests planners confuse current housing needs with long-term environmental concerns
- This doesn't connect to the passage's emphasis on local adaptation
risk implementing development strategies that may not be contextually appropriate.
✓ Correct
- Directly captures the logical consequence: uniform application leads to contextually inappropriate strategies
- Perfectly matches the passage's emphasis that strategies "must be adapted to local conditions"
forgo analyzing local conditions in favor of applying standardized planning models.
✗ Incorrect
- Focuses on the process (forgoing analysis) rather than the outcome
- While related to the passage's concerns, it's less direct than Choice C