Uneven development at different scalesDevelopment is a process of change that affects countries and their people. Development is all about improving people's lives in a number of different fields: *Economic - employment and levels of pay *Demographic - higher life expectancy, lower birth rate *Social - access to services such as health & education *Cultural - improving the rights of women *Political - right to vote, democratic & fair governments *Environmental - effective pollution controls, conservation Map displaying uneven development at a global scale.
The North South Divide - global scale uneven development
The Chancellor of Germany in the 1970s divided the world into the 'Rich North' and the 'Poor South', with a line that roughly circled the world at 30°, passing between North & Central America, north of Africa, India &China, but dipping south so as to include Australia and New Zealand in the 'North'. This concept is now viewed as being quite out dated, as there are several countries in the 'South' (Singapore, Taiwan, China) who have or are developing rapidly. To find data on these countries check out the CIA World Fact Book.
Uneven Development at a city scale -
NY, Sanitago, Islamabad, Istanbul Click on the link here to be taken to the BBC's Richer World series where you can find out about the divides that exist in four major global cities.
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As you can see from the GDP map of the world on the left and the Oxfam image above (click on it to find out more) the world is a very unequal place. It is important to note that these inequalities don't just appear at a global scale, but can be seen at a national scale within countries. They can also be found if you zoom into a country at a regional, local and even city scale. Check out the examples below to find out more.
Brazil & China - Evidence of uneven development at a national scale.
Click on the image below to find out about uneven development within Brazil. The map above shows Brazil's regional Human Development Index.
The map below shows national inequalities within China. Click on the map to be taken to The Economist website and find out which countries in the world their provinces compare to. |
Click here to find out about uneven development in Rio de
Janeiro. You may also want to check out Google Earth's Beyond the map site. Alternatively, those interested in South Africa can see the divide clearly in these images. |
Are we making any progress?Check out the video below which shows how countries are pulling themselves out of poverty.
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National disparities within the UK
The UK's North South divide is widening - See the Guardian article. |
Are you interested to find out how wealthy your family is compared to the rest of the world? Enter the data here into the world wealth calculator.
Extension video and article
Extension article :'Equality why more is good' article by Danny Dorling.
Italy suffers from a regional divide - check out this article from The Economist
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Measuring Development |
Purchasing Power Parity made easy with Burgernomics
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We measure development in Geography by using development indicators. A development indicator is just data that helps show how developed a country is.
One indicator that is often used is gross domestic product (GDP), which is the total value of goods and services a country produces in a year. You can think of it as a country's wealth. A criticism of using only GDP to measure a countries development is that it only covers economic aspects and ignores social and demographic aspects. It also doesn't show how wealth is distributed within a country. The United Nations prefers to use the Human Development Index (HDI). To find out more about this index and also to view an interactive map click on the link here. Infant mortality map of the world 2013 Infant mortality is the number of babies that die before the age of 1 year per 1000. You can click on the map to enlarge it.
In 2011 the UN noted that GDP did not accurately reflect the happiness or human wellbeing of the people in a country. In response to this the OECD ( Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development) developed the Better Life index. To find out more about this index click on the link. The causes of uneven developmentHistorial Causes
The Trans Atlantic slave trade caused uneven development as the African continent was bled of its human resources. It ultimately undermined local economies and political stability as villages' vital labour was shipped overseas preventing an agricultural revolution. Listen to the first 1 minute of the video below. |
GDP is given in US$. Purchase power parity (PPP) is just the GDP adjusted to take into account that a $ buys more in some countries than others.
To find out more about PPP and the Burger Index developed by The Economist click on the link here. To investigate how countries have developed over time using a range of different indicators click on the Gapminder graph below and then click on bubble graph. Political causes
Colonialisation also causes uneven development. Check out the prezi below to find out more. |
Environmental Causes
Natural disasters such as droughts, hurricanes and earthquakes can hinder a country's development. Without clean access to clean water diseases can spread, crops fail and a person's standard of living falls. Other Causes
There are many other causes of uneven development such as:
Solutions - AidThere are lots of different types of aid: *Emergency aid - this is aid given after a natural disaster, such as clean water, tents, blankets and medical care. * Bilateral aid - this is aid given directly from one rich government to a poorer government. *Multilateral aid - this is where governments give money to international organisations like the World Bank. Those organisations allocate it to those countries they feel are in most need. *Development aid: This might be money given to build a new road or port to improve infrastructure or money given to build a new hospital or school to benefit the people of a country. Top down development This is development that is led by international organisations who dictate and implement policies and schemes with little local input. Characteristics of this type of aid include: *Usually large scale schemes |
Economic causes
One of the greatest problems faced by less developing world countries is their level of foreign debt. By struggling to pay debt countries cannot invest in education, medical care... Many countries particularly in Africa owe staggering amounts of money. Ethiopia owes more than $10 billion. This is more than 13 times its foreign earnings. Ethiopia pays 4 times as much on debt repayment as it does on home expenditure. In the mean time 100 000 children die each year from diarrhoea. Bottom up development This is development that is run by local communities for the benefit of the community. Characteristics of this type of aid include: *Usually small scale & funds are limited |
The Akosombo Dam, Ghana
Small scale development strategies
Sand dams, Kenya
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Water Pumps, Ghana
Watch the video below, which although set in Kenya explains the benefits of water pumps as a bottom up development strategy. Many villages in Ghana don't have access to clean water. A British charity called WaterAid is helping some villages to dig wells for themselves. WaterAid supplies the know-how and the materials, but as it is a bottom up project, the villagers have to form a committee to decide where the well should go and also organise who will do the work. Some villagers are trained to look after the well and carryout any needed repairs.
Check out the list below to find out the ways in which this type of project is sustainable: * Social sustainability - children have more time to go to school as they don't need to collect water fro the family. * Social sustainability - less illness, so less spent on medicine. *Environmental sustainability - no pollution & the villagers don't over extract the water. *Economic sustainability - more people could cook food to sell, women potters could produce more pots. |