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• Inequalities in Development

Inequalities in Development

Development is a complex social, economic and political phenomenon. It is about economic growth and social progress involving living standards and wealth.

The UNDP (UN development programme) describes development as: 'the three essentials of development include the ability to lead a long and healthy life, to acquire knowledge, and to have a decent standard of life'.

Some people also believe that the political health of a country is an important factor in its development, which includes freedom of speech and demonstration.

Development indicators

Main development points:

• Employment
• Poverty
• Health
• Education
• Social Cohesion
• Safety and Security
• Good Governance

Global Maps

The North-South Divide (Brandt line)

The map above showing the north-south divide as been updated recently to include countries like South Africa, Singapore and Taiwan. It was based upon the Brandt line and shows the more economically developed countries in blue and the less economically developed countries in red. [Map from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North-South_divide]

Positives of Map:

• Simplifies data so that it's easy to understand.
• GDP is used which is an easy to access data source.

Negatives of Map:

• Doesn't include some countries which are more economically developed.
• Generalised patterns with some countries above the Brandt line less developed less than some below.

Human Development Index

HDI (Human Development Index) is a measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and GDP of a country. This index was developed in 1990 by Mahbub ul Haq. [Map from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index]

Positives of Map:

• More detail involved than the Brandt line, shows data for each individual country.
• Relatively simple to idendify which countries are more developed than others.

Negatives of Map:

• Doesn't show the distribution of wealth within countries. And doing so doesn't reflect the true level of developement.

GDP Map

GDP (Gross domestic product) is a measurement of the national income of a country. Gross national product is very similar to GDP. [Map from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gdp]

Positives of Map:

• GDP data is usually reliable, accurate and an easily accessable.
• Relatively simple to idendify which countries are more developed than others.

Negatives of Map:

• Has some anomalies, such as Saudi Arabia with a small population of extremly rich people, this balances out the GDP.
• Doesn't show the distribution of wealth within countries. And doing so doesn't reflect the true level of developement.

Why does one country develop and not another?

There are a wide range of reasons as to why a country develops and another does not. These can be split into human and physical factors which have equal emphasise.

Natural resources can be a crucial factor in the development in a country, with the more resources available the easier it is to trade and gain wealth. There are complications with this idea though, not always does the country gain in wealth from exporting materials, for example with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It has a large reserve of copper which it exported but large amounts of the money was lost due to corruption instead of being feat back into the system.

Other than natural resources the geographical location of the country plays a large part in its development. If the country lies at the core of an area e.g. Germany is central to Europe, then its economy is more likely to prosper because it's easier to trade with, rather than places like Portugal or Poland which are on the periphery Europe. Along similar lines the environment and the climate a country lies within can either help or stop development. The climate of an area dictate what, if any, food can grow there and how nourishing the soil is. The easier it is to grow food the more likely a country is to develop, where as if the country can't grow food it either has to import is, costing money, or the people go hungry.

Also, and finally, religion and culture can play a part in development. This is seen with protestant Catholicism because generally they were more economically driven than other culture who believed in more primitive ways and simple worship.

Even if a country had all these factors, natural resources, good global position, good climate, stable governance and money driven culture, it would not necessarily be developed. It is a combination and fusion of these factors which will lead to development in a country.

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Stages in Development

Rostow's 'stages of economic growth' model shows five crutial stages in the development of a country. The first stage in the model is traditional society, this is where the countries' population use primitive technology and their trade is still based on bartering.

The second stage, Preconditions for take-off, means the country has improved technology and an increase in trade and investment.

The Take-off stage is third and Rostow believed it to be the most important of all the stages because the economic growth was rapid and sophiticated.

The drive to maturity stage is a period of self-sustaining growth, with increasing investment and diversification.

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