Regional Disparity Case Studies

Top 3 wealthiest cities in China

Shanghai

Shenzhen

Beijing

Why are China’s main cities on the east-coast?

Physical factors:

• South China Sea and Pacific Ocean (shipping and trade routes)

• Accessibility to the rest of the world

Shanghai’s GDP 2023

$607.82 billion

Kashgar GDP 2022

$20.4 billion

East-coast life expectancy 2015

66 years or above

Western China life expectancy

63 years

Tibet life expectancy

63 years (lowest)

China’s Gini Co-Efficient 2020

0.467

Norway’s Gini Co-efficient 2020

0.227

Chinese Government’s attempts to lower regional disparity

• Investing into the inland areas of China in 1997 (after the Asian Financial Crisis)

• Regional Development programmes

• State-Owned Enterprises (majority of employment inland)

• New policies

• Direct funding towards inner regions of China

• Hopeful for spread effects to start working soon

Why did Chinese Government intervene in the development of inland areas?

Realised that having all the investment on the east-coast was bringing instability to the country, could cause massive economic problems in the future.

Why did the Chinese investments within the inland areas not work?

Too many large, wealthy TNCs on the east-coast, therefore the government have lost control over the economy. The government can no longer control exactly where investments and resources go.

Norway HDI 2023

0.964 - 2nd

What was the 2022 Norwegian goal for regional disparity?

In 2022, the Norwegian goal of regional disparity and rural policy was for the people throughout Norway to live a ‘good life’.

Ensure people had access to work, housing and good services within safe, sustainable, local communities.

Amount the Department for Regional Development was given in 2023

NOK 1.3 billion

What did the Department for Regional Development invest NOK 1.3 billion in?

In the poorer regions in the north - provide adequate housing, education and services, to reduce regional disparity

Arguments against Norway’s reduced levels of regional disparity

• They are a HIC, therefore can afford to spend excess money on reducing regional disparities and effects will be felt quickly

• They have a smaller population and land area (than China)

Can regional disparity be avoided as a country develops?

NO - every country has some form of regional disparity but it depends what they do to combat it and the resources they have

Backwash

A ‘growing point’ established by the location of a factory, or any other expansional move, will attract other businesses, skilled labour, and capital. However, it will also have backwash effects that keep down, or even impoverish, out-regions.

Spread effects

The filtering of wealth from central, prosperous areas, to peripheral, needier areas.

Core areas

Core areas are described as the engines of economic growth and are characterized by modern, technologically advanced production methods as well as highly skilled and high-wage labour

Periphery areas

Areas using low-technology production methods accompanied by low skill and low-wage labour.

Gini Co-effcient

It is typically used as a measure of income inequality, but it can be used to measure the inequality of any distribution – such as the distribution of wealth, or even life expectancy.

It measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1

Lorenz Curve

The Lorenz curve is a graphical representation of income inequality or wealth inequality developed.