Development of a Town Centre

The two maps below show the centre of the town of Riverdale in 1985 and how it appears today. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

In 1985, a river ran along the northern edge of the town, crossed by a single small footbridge. To the south of the river lay open farmland and a large area of woodland in the east. A single main road ran from west to east through the centre, lined with a few shops and a school in the south-west corner. Today, the footbridge has been replaced by a wide road bridge, and the farmland has been developed into a residential area of houses. The woodland in the east has been cleared to make way for a shopping mall and a car park, while the school has been extended and a hospital has been built beside it in the south-west.