But this alone would not be enough to make Berlin the center of cultural life. So many artists flock to Berlin because living there is cheaper than living in any other big city in Europe.

民族融合并不是推动柏林成为欧洲文化生活中心的唯一助力，艺术家们涌向柏林的另一个原因是这里的生活成本比其他欧洲大城市要更加低廉。

youdao

But at night, uncertain Athenians stayed away from the normally bustling city center, which was ghostly quiet.

不过在夜间雅典人通常会离开活跃的市中心，让那里变成一座寂静的鬼城。

youdao

In the two decades since reunification, Berlin has been an enormous building site, but empty Spaces still litter the city center.

两德统一后的二十年中，柏林新建了大片的建筑，但在市中心仍有荒废的空地。

youdao

But India's diamond center is now desolate. Merchants in the once busy trading city say they have transacted virtually no business since last Christmas as orders dry up from Western buyers, who bought nearly 90 percent of their stones.

VOA: standard.2009.04.03

These satellite cities were expected to absorb half the growth between 1998 and 2017, but their distance from the city center, as well their lack of services and opportunities, make them unattractive and still unaffordable for the majority of Egyptians.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

But just 20 kilometers from the city center there is a different kind of life.

CNN: Flashing big money in India's smaller cities

All are self-made, grew up in the outer boroughs of New York City, and can now look back on middle age. (Ray Lamontagne, the chairman of the board of City Center, comes from New Hampshire, but otherwise fits the profile.) During one recent lunch together, the old farts had a contest of sorts to determine who grew up in the most modest circumstances.

NEWYORKER: Madoff��s Curveball