With the rapid development of urbanization, many people advocate the demolition of old houses for the benefit of economic and social development. But others argue that we can't ruin the traditional cultural heritage. Personally, I side with the former opinion.
In the first place, the existence of old houses is an obstacle to modern urbanization by damaging the image of the city. If they are replaced with modern skyscrapers, the city will take on a new look. Take the Summer Palace in Beijing for example, Being government has demolished a large number of run-down the Summer Palace and constructed many new housing buildings instead.
In the second place, there is a potential danger to people living in old houses or even passers-by. If the houses are old enough to collapse in the end, where does the value of culture or tourism exist? The tourists surely will not travel a long distance to see these so-called "culture heritage" at the risk of their lives.
In the third place, replacing old houses with buildings can help to solve housing problems. It is well-known that China is a densely-populated country and people in urban areas only have little housing space. Undoubtedly, replacing old houses with new buildings is a good way to solve the problem.
As mentioned above, I can draw a conclusion safely: It is irresistible to replace old houses with modern buildings. At the same time, it is necessary for us to restore a limited number of old houses for the sake of conserving traditional culture and attracting tourists.