ROSIE: So what are we going to do our assignment on? I'll tell you what, one of the possibilities we haven't discussed is urbanisation.

罗西：那么我们的任务是什么呢？我来告诉你吧，我们还没有讨论过的一个可能性是城市化。

And now over half the world's population lives in cities, that's really important.

现在世界上超过一半的人口生活在城市里，这真的很重要。

COLIN: OK, good idea, Rosie. Let's do that.

科林：好的，好主意，罗茜。我们就这么做吧。

ROSIE: I love living in a big city, but of course there are problems.

罗茜：我喜欢住在大城市里，但当然也有一些问题。

COLIN: Things like theft and robbery?

科林：比如偷窃和抢劫之类的事情？

ROSIE: Yes, but where I come from, that's linked to another more serious issue, which is that a lot of people don't have jobs.

罗茜：是的，但在我来的地方，这与另一个更严重的问题有关，那就是很多人没有工作。

That's getting worse and worse.

情况正在越来越糟糕。

And we also still have quite a lot of people who are homeless, though that's not quite so bad as it was.

我们仍然有相当多的人无家可归，尽管这并不像以前那么糟糕。

COLIN: It'd be nice to talk about some positive developments.

科林：要是能谈谈一些积极的发展就好了。

Like some of the new developments on the outskirts of cities.

就像城市郊区的一些新发展一样。

ROSIE: Yeah. They've opened some massive new shopping centres outside my city.

罗茜：是的，他们在我们城市外开设了一些大型新购物中心。

COLIN: Yeah, the same with mine – but it's meant a lot of the shops in the city centre are closing down.

科林：是的，我的也是这样 —— 但这意味着市中心的许多商店正在关闭。

But the outskirts are ideal for buildings that need a lot of space, like for conferences.

但是郊区对于需要大量空间的建筑来说是理想的，比如用于会议。

They've opened a couple of big ones.

他们开了几家大店。

ROSIE: Yes, we've got some too.

罗茜：是的，我们也有一些。

It'd be nicer to have more facilities for things like football too.

如果能有更多像足球这样的设施就更好了。

But that's not happening where I live.

但在我住的地方，这种情况并不常见。

COLIN: Same in my area.

科林：在我的地区也是如此。

ROSIE: We could include something about developing disused industrial sites.

罗茜：我们可以加入一些关于开发废弃工业场地的内容。

It seems like a good idea, because you're not doing any harm to the natural environment.

这似乎是个好主意，因为你不会对自然环境造成任何损害。

COLIN: Yeah, but aren't the buildings architecturally significant?

科林：是的，但这些建筑难道不具有建筑学意义吗？

ROSIE: Not really. And what people forget is that they often used quite dangerous materials – chemicals and things – which haven't been properly cleared away, so the whole site has to be made safe.

罗茜：不完全是。人们忘记的是，他们经常使用相当危险的材料 —— 化学品和其他东西 —— 这些东西还没有被妥善清理，所以必须确保整个场地的安全。

COLIN: Mm. That can't be cheap. And I bet it's often not budgeted for.

科林：嗯，那可不便宜。而且我敢打赌，这通常不在预算之内。

ROSIE: You're right.

罗西：你说得对。

COLIN: Have you read about Masdar City?

科林：你读过马斯达尔市的资料吗？

ROSIE: In Abu Dhabi? Yes, it was designed to be a green city, wasn't it?

罗西：在阿布扎比？是的，它被设计成一个绿色城市，不是吗？

That might be a good example of a city which set out to depend entirely on renewable energy.

这可能是一个完全依赖可再生能源的城市的典型例子。

COLIN: Yes, we should say something about that.

科林：是的，我们应该对此说点什么。

It was designed to be totally pedestrianised too, wasn't it, with the transport underground.

它也被设计成完全步行化的，不是吗？交通工具都在地下。

ROSIE: Yes, and they had big plans for recycling to reduce waste to the lowest possible level.

罗茜：是的，他们还制定了大规模的回收计划，旨在将废物减少到尽可能低的水平。

But let's stick to talking about power sources.

但让我们继续谈论电力来源。

COLIN: Then there's that ecotown in England, Greenhill Abbots.

科林：然后是英格兰的那个生态小镇，格林希尔修道院。

It set out to conform to the usual principles – sustainability and so on.

它开始遵循常规原则 —— 可持续发展等等。

A lot of people were against it at first; they said the plans were unrealistic.

起初，很多人都反对；他们说这些计划不切实际。

I'm not sure how far they've got with it – I'll check.

我不确定他们在这方面进展如何 —— 我会去查看的。

ROSIE: Right. So it looks as …

罗茜：好的。所以看起来......