Development (OCR GCSE Geography B)

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Bridgette Barrett

Written by: Bridgette Barrett

Reviewed by: Jenna Quinn

Development

  • Development is the improvement in people's standard of living 

  • This improvement may be:

    • Economic - growth of the economy due to changes in economic activities and technology

    • Social - improvement in people's health, education, water and food supply

    • Environmental - more sustainable use of the environment

Distribution of ACs, EDCs & LIDCs

  • The International Monetary Fund (IMF) classifies countries into three groups:

    • Advanced countries (ACs)

    • Emerging and developing countries (EDCs)

    • Low-income developing countries (LIDCs)

Characteristics of Countries at Various Levels of Development

Level of development

Characteristics

Advanced countries (ACs)

Good level of services

High Gross National Income (GNI) per capita

High standard of living for most of the population

Tertiary economic activities are dominant

Emerging and developing countries (EDCs)

Levels of wealth are increasing

Secondary economic activities are increasing, and primary are decreasing

More exports

Increased wages

Low-income developing countries (LIDCs)

High level of poverty

GNI per capita is low

Low standard of living for most of the population

IMAGE - DISTRIBUTION OF COUNTRIES AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

Measures of Development

Gross National Income (GNI) per Capita

  • Gross National Income (GNI) per capita is the average wealth per person in a country

    • Dividing it by the population means that more meaningful comparisons can be made between countries

  • GNI per capita is an average, which means that the variation in wealth is hidden

    • It is possible that two countries can have the same average GNI per capita but that one has a few very wealthy people and lots of people living in poverty, whereas the other has a more equal distribution of wealth

  • Not all the wealth of a country is included. Some wealth is hidden, for example, the income created in informal employment

  • The GNI per capita does not give any information about social or environmental development

The Human Development Index (HDI)

  • The (HDI) is a combined measure of average achievement in key areas of human development, health, education and standard of living using the following data

    • Life expectancy at birth

    • Mean years of schooling for adults aged 25 years

    • Expected years of schooling for children at school entering the age

    • Gross National Income (GNI) per capita 

  • Countries can be divided into four groups using HDI

    • Very High Human Development (VHHD) 

    • High Human Development (HHD)

    • Medium Human Development (MHD)

    • Low Human Development (LHD)

  • HDI is scored from 0 to 1 

  • The higher the HDI the higher the level of development and quality of life

  • Norway has the highest HDI at 0.957 

  • Niger has the lowest HDI at 0.394

Map showing the Human Development Index

Map showing the human-development-index

The Happy Planet Index

  •  Happy Planet Index (HPI) – a measure of sustainable well-being

  •  It doesn’t include economic development indicators/wealth

  •  Scored between 0-100. The higher the number, the better the level of sustainable human development

                          HPI =    fraction numerator space experienced space well minus being space straight x space life space expectancy over denominator Ecological space footprint space per space capita end fraction

  • Experienced well-being – how satisfied people are with their lives (Gallup World Poll)

  • Life expectancy - how long people on average live for (UN)

  • Ecological footprint per capita – the amount of land needed to sustain the country’s resource consumption (World Wildlife Fund)

A sample of national HPI values (2019)

High

HPI

Upper middle

HPI

Lower Middle

HPI

Low

HPI

Costa Rica

62.1

UK

56.0

Haiti

38.2

Zimbabwe

28.6

Vanuatu

60.4

Peru

55.9

Guinea

38.1

Lesotho

27.3

Colombia

60.2

Nicaragua

55.2

Burundi

37.7

Central African Republic

25.2

Switzerland

60.1

Tajikistan

55.2

USA

37.4

Mongolia

24.5

Ecuador

58.8

Netherlands

 54.9

Togo

37.3

Qatar

24.3

Data: New Economics Foundation

  • Costa Rica has frequently placed in 1st position, outdoing countries considered to be more developed

  • USA placed 122nd in the overall list, below many poverty-stricken countries eg. Haiti

  •  Criticisms of the HPI:

    • Well-being is highly subjective

    • Ecological footprints of the least developed countries could be lower as its citizens can’t afford to buy lots of material objects

Worked Example

Study the data table below which shows measures of development for four African countries.

Country

GNI per capita ($)

Literacy Rate %

Life Expectancy (Years)

Infant Mortality
Rate (per 1,000)

Cameroon

3,070

75.0

58.5

52.2

Chad

2,110

40.2

50.2

87.0

Gabon

18,880

83.2

52.1

45.1

Niger

 950

19.1

55.5

82.8

Which country has the lowest life expectancy?

Answer

  • Chad [1]

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Bridgette Barrett

Author: Bridgette Barrett

Expertise: Geography Lead

After graduating with a degree in Geography, Bridgette completed a PGCE over 25 years ago. She later gained an MA Learning, Technology and Education from the University of Nottingham focussing on online learning. At a time when the study of geography has never been more important, Bridgette is passionate about creating content which supports students in achieving their potential in geography and builds their confidence.

Jenna Quinn

Author: Jenna Quinn

Expertise: Head of New Subjects

Jenna studied at Cardiff University before training to become a science teacher at the University of Bath specialising in Biology (although she loves teaching all three sciences at GCSE level!). Teaching is her passion, and with 10 years experience teaching across a wide range of specifications – from GCSE and A Level Biology in the UK to IGCSE and IB Biology internationally – she knows what is required to pass those Biology exams.