Development geography

Nature of development

• Very difficult to define (more than 700 definitions)
• Sustainable development - generating changes that continue without harming other people, communities and/or the environment
• The assumption that industrialisation and modernisation are a more advanced state than ways of life based on subsistence agriculture
• UN has development goals

Developed countries:

• Those that are highly developed in terms of their economy and their technological infrastructure relative to other countries
• Includes measurements from Gross Domestic Product

Developing countries:

• Have a less developed industrial base and a low HDI relative to other countries
• The term doesn't take into consideration happy and healthy people, mainly economics as well as the fact that countries are in different stages of developing

Indicators and spatial variations

Measuring development:

Quantitative indicators:

• A numerical measure of something that can be counted
• GNI, HDI, life expectancy, internet access etc.
• Limits include
  • Many of the poorer countries are engaged in subsistence farming and do not attract monetary income
  • Based on income per person, sometimes the cost of living is higher than it seems
  • The remoteness of communities, inefficient governments and high levels of illiteracy make it difficult to collect survey-based data

Qualitative indicators:

• Values such as peace, harmony, cooperation and joy
• All things that add to a person’s quality of life
• Really hard to measure and put a number on
• Factors that lessen the quality of life:
  • Traffic congestion
  • Social disharmony
  • Stress

Issues arising from spatial patterns of development:

Characteristics of developing countries:

Pour health and low access to health services:

• Availability and quality of health services are generally low in developing countries
• Niger and Ethiopia have 3 physicians per 100 000 people

Low life expectancy:

• The world’s poorest countries are less likely to survive diseases of poverty (malnutrition) and more susceptible to preventable ones (e.g. malaria)
• Childbirth is incredibly risky for both baby and mother in developing countries
• Africa as a whole has the lowest life expectancy in the world

High infant mortality rates:

• The rate is reducing but still needs to be reduced further

Low per capita income:

• Developing countries tend to have a lower level of per capita income

High levels of illiteracy:

• The most frequently used indicator to determine development