AP Human Geography

Concepts of Development

What determines economic

development?

• Resources

• Population

• Colonial status

• Geographic Location

• Climate

What does development look

like?

Less Developed Developed

Per capita incomes are low, and capital is

scarce.

Per capita incomes are high and capital is

readily available.

Wealth is unevenly distributed within

individual countries, e.g., Colombia, 2.6%

of population owns 40% of the national

wealth.

Wealth is comparatively evenly

distributed, e.g., Canada, 10% of

population owns 24% of national wealth.

Primary industries dominate national

economies.

Manufacturing and service industries

dominate national economies.

High proportion of population engaged in

subsistance agriculture.

Farming is commercial, efficient, and

mechanized.

What does development look

like? Less Developed Developed

Populations are rural; but cities are

growing rapidly. Populations urban, cities growing slowly.

Birth and death rates are high and life

expectancy is low. There tends to be a

high proportion of children.

Birth and death rates are low and life

expectancy is high. High proportion of

people over 60 years old.

Inadequate or unbalanced diets resulting

from a low consumption of protein;

hunger and malnutrition common.

Adequate supplies of food and balanced

diets; overeating sometimes a problem.

Diseases, especially infectious and

parasitic diseases, common. Health care

poor.

Low incidence of disease; good medical

services available.

What does development look

like?

Less Developed Developed

Overcrowding, poor housing, few public

services, bad sanitation--poor social

conditions. Social conditions generally good.

Poor educational facilities, high levels of

illiteracy--low levels of scientific and

technological development.

Education opportunities excellent, high

literacy, advanced science and

technology.

Women may be held in an inferior

position in society.

Women are increasingly treated on equal

terms with men.

How is development measured?

• Gross Domestic Product Per Capita

– aka GDP per capita

– value of goods and services produced within a country within a given year

– Other similar measures include GNP (broader value), PPP(involves the differences in exchange rates between currencies)

– Usually calculated in US dollars to allow comparisons between countries

Measuring Development

• Gross Domestic Product per Capita

High human development 25,167

Medium human

development

1,237

Low human development 358

Gross Domestic Product

High Human Development

 Luxembourg   Canada    Denmark    Singapore    M exico  

21,492 6,12159,143 27,079 39,332

Gross Domestic Product

Medium Human Development

 Armenia    China    Indonesia    Bolivia  

 Equatorial

Guinea  

970 892 5,900918 1,100

Gross Domestic Product

Low Human Development

 Djibouti    Haiti  

 Tanzania,

U. Rep. of    M alawi  

 Burkina

Faso  

886 346 287 156 345

How is development measured?

• Rates

– Literacy

– Infant mortality

– Caloric intake

– Natural increase

– Inflation

How is development measured?

• Occupational Structure of the Workforce

– PRIMARY (agriculture)

– SECONDARY (industry)

– TERTIARY (services)

– QUATERNARY

– QUINARY

Occupational Structure

– China GDP $6,200

– agriculture 49%, industry 22%, services 29%

– Australia GDP $32,000

– agriculture 3.7%, industry 26.4%, services 70%

– Philippines GDP $5,100

– agriculture 36%, industry 16%, services 48%

Occupational Structure

– Luxembourg GDP $59,143

– Agriculture 1%, industry 30%, services 69%

– Singapore GDP $21,492

– agriculture 0%, industry 30%, services 70%

– Equatorial Guinea GDP $5,900

– agriculture 20%, industry 60%, services 20%

Occupational Structure

– Haiti GDP $346

– Agriculture 32%, industry 20%, services 48%

– Malawi GDP $156

– agriculture 37%, industry 29%, services 34%

Other Measures of Development

• Unemployment

The number of people who (in a given year)

were not working but were available for

work and had taken steps to seek work. In

some circumstances where employment

opportunities are particularly limited in a

country, the last criteria ("had taken steps to

seek work") may be relaxed.

Other Measures of Development

• Telephone Lines

Number of subscriber lines (business and

residential) plus public telephones per 100

inhabitants. This series is calculated by

dividing the number of main lines by the

population, and multiplying by 100.

Other Measures of Development

• Undernourished

The percentage of the population whose

food intake falls below the minimum

requirement needed to meet dietary energy

requirements on a regular basis.

Other Measures of Development

• Television Receivers

Number of television receivers and/or

number of licenses issued per thousand

inhabitants.

• Water Resources per Capita

Average amount of water that is available

per person from rivers and groundwater

each year.

Human Development Index

• Created by the United Nations

• Measures three types of factors: economic, social,

and demographic

– Economic factor selected GDP per capita

– Social factors are literacy and amount of education

– Demographic factor is life expectancy

• Factors combined for a maximum of 1.0 or 100%

• 2001: Norway #1 with .944

World map indicating Human Development Index (2004).

██ high (0.800–1) ██ medium (0.500–0.799) ██ low (0.300–0.499) ██ n/a

GNP Map

Concepts of Development

• Developed vs underdeveloped (negative)

• Developed vs developing? Implies progress

has been made and country intends to

continue

• LDC vs MDC

Core Periphery Model • Scholars criticizing developed and developing

argued for this new approach

• Grew from Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory

• Sensitive to geographical differences and the relationships among development processes occurring in different places

• Focuses on economic relationships – Core

– Periphery

– Semi periphery

Core Periphery Model

• Core Regions

– High levels of socioeconomic prosperity

– Dominant players in global economic game

Anglo America HDI .94

Japan and the South Pacific HDI .93

Western Europe HDI .92

Eastern Europe HDI .78

Core Periphery Model

• Periphery

– Poor regions

– Dependent on the core

– Do not have much control over their own

affairs

Periphery Regions

Latin America HDI .78

East Asia HDI .72

Southeast Asia HDI .71

Middle East HDI .66

South Asia HDI .58

Sub Saharan Africa HDI .47

Core Periphery Model

• Semi Periphery

– Regions that exert more power than periphery

regions

– Dominated to some degree by core

The North South Divide

Based on the 1980’s Brandt Report. Suggested a simplified world

contrast of development and undevelopment based on degree of

industrialization and per capita wealth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Northsouth.png

Models of Development

• Liberal Models

– All countries are capable of development

– Economic disparities are a result of short term

inefficiencies in local or regional market forces

Models of Development

• Structuralist Models

– Regional disparities are a structural feature of

the global economy

– Things have come to be organized or structured

in a way and cannot be changed easily

Modernization Model

• Walt Rostow, 1950’s, Stages of Growth Model

• Liberal model

• Development through international trade

• Suggests that all countries follow a similar path through economic development – Traditional

– Preconditions to takeoff

– Takeoff

– Drive to maturity

– High mass consumption

Traditional

• Not yet started development

• High % of people engaged in subsistence agriculture

• High % of wealth allocated to ‘nonproductive activities’ such as religion and military

• Rigid and unchanging social structure

• Resistence to technological change

Preconditions of Takeoff

• An elite group initiates innovative economic

activity

• Country begins investing in new technology

and infrastructure

• Stimulate increase in productivity

• Progressive leadership

Takeoff

• Rapid growth facilitated by a limited

number of economic activities

• Some sectors of the economic structure

remain dominated by traditional practices

• Industrialization, urbanization, mass

production

Drive to Maturity

• Modern technology diffuses to wide variety

of industries

• Industries experience rapid growth similar

to the early takeoff industries

• Workers become more skilled and

specialized

• Modernization in the core

• Population growth declines

High Mass Consumption

• Economy shifts from production of heavy

industry such as steel and energy to

consumer goods like refrigerators and motor

vehicles

• High incomes

• Widespread production of a variety of

goods and services

• Majority of workers in service sector of

economy

Dependency Theory • Structuralist alternative to Rostow’s model

• Political and economic relationships

between countries and regions control and

limit the economic development of less well

off regions

• Dependency helps sustain the prosperity of

the dominant regions and the poverty of the

lesser regions

Dependency Theory

• Little hope for economic prosperity in

regions and countries that have traditionally

been dominated by external power

• Based on generalizations that pay little

attention to regional differences in culture,

politics, and society

Colonization of Africa

Why do LDC’s face obstacles to

development?

• Self-sufficiency

• International trade

• Financing development