Defining Development in a Developing World

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Defining Development

Development refers to the quality of life of an area's inhabitants.

Development can be defined in a number of ways;

Economic development uses a country's wealth as an indicator of its quality of life.

Social development is development around social issues such as education, housing conditions, and health.

Political development concerns the rights and freedoms of a country under its government.

Cultural development involves better gender and racial equality.

The world can be split into three different groups based on their economic and social development; low-income countries, newly emerging economies, and high-income countries.

The demographic transition model is often used as model for development based on birth and death rates.

Developing countries generally have rapid population growth due to high birth rates and lower death rates.

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Indicators of Development

There is no universal way of measuring development, there many different ways that take different factors into account.

Human Development Index (HDI):

Uses income, life expectancy, and education to determine the level of development in a country.

Does not include human rights or happiness.

Factors are processed to give a number between 0 and 1.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP):

Considers the value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year.

Measured in US dollars (USD).

Per capita figure.

Corruption Perceptions Index:

The perceived corruption in governments and the public sector.

Difficult to measure.

Scores of 100 (perfect) to 0 (corrupt).

Literacy Rate:

The percentage of people with basic reading and writing skills.

Carrying out surveys in some areas is difficult.

Only takes education into account.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR):

The number of deaths of children under 1 year of age per 1,000 live births.

In the world's poorest areas not all deaths are recorded.

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Where is developed?

There is a general divide between the Northern and Southern hemisphere.

Maps of development differ depending on the factors being mapped.

Generally, continental Africa is the least developed area and Europe and the US are the most developed.

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The Cycle of Poverty

Areas of low-income can become stuck in a loop of underdevelopment.

This is shown on the image below.