Development Dilemmas

Due to geographical and historical factors, the world is made up of countries which 'have' and some which 'have not' - the development gap. Some of the social indicators which can separate a country in terms of development include:

• Birth Rate
• Life expectancy
• Number of people per doctor
• Literacy rate
• Gender equality
• Infant mortality

The income gap between the most and the least developed country = Global Development Gap

Factors affecting development gap

Economic Factors

• Poor trade links
• Low exports
• Poor countries need to borrow from rich countries = DEBT
• Primary Products = Raw materials which doesn’t make as much profit

 Social Factors

• Child education
• Drinking water
• Lack of money for medicines

Political factors

• Unstable government
• Corruption
• Conflict

In 1980, German Chancellor identified two major groups of countries.

• A group of wealthy countries such as North America and Australia. They are identified as the  global North and HICs
• A second group of much poorer countries were in South America with almost all of Africa and Asia. They were identified as the Global South and LICs

The Brandt report identified the differences between those two different groups of countries as the North-South divide (Development Gap)

So what has changed since 1980?

Rapid Economic Development in Latin America countries such as Brazil and Chile. These are known as the Middle Income Countries

In the 1990s equally rapid development took place in the South-East Asia in places such as Hong Kong and Thailand. Also known as the ‘Asian tigers’ due to the rapid economic growth which doubled their economics between 1988and 1996. This region was classed as the Newly Industrialising countries

Traditional society > Most people work in agriculture but produce little surplus (extra food which they could sell). This is a subsistence economy

Pre-take off society > shift from farming to manufacturing which means trade increases profits which are invested in new industries

Take off stage > investment and growth is rapid. Investment and technology create new manufacturing industries

Drive to maturity > technology is used throughout which increases economy goods

High Mass Consumption > consumers enjoy a wide range of goods

Criticisms of the Rostow Model:

• Outdated: developed in the 1960s 
• Oversimplified: based on just 15 European countries
• Ignores: debt replacement which can prevent reaching take off

In 1962 Rwanda gained independence from Belgium. However, development was slow due to new government natural disasters such as floods and droughts. Since coffee was the most popular product they needed it in order to develop

Then it was the start of the civil war in 1985 and this affected the country and down the development process even further

The dependency theory evolved in the late 1950s and is based around the idea that developed rich countries (core) are limiting the level of development of the poorer countries (periphery) from the control of the world economy. 

The problems with the Dependency theory are:

• written in the late 1950s so it is out of date.
• natural disasters, lack of resources, conflict are just a few examples of things which may limit development that isn't taken into consideration in the Dependency theory.

Core regions

The core regions are the rich and usually urban areas of a country. They are well connected and have the majority of the services, business and people, generating wealth. It is where big businesses, industries and government have their headquarters. The majority of people live here and services are good.

Periphery regions

The periphery regions are poor and remote rural areas often involved in producing raw materials which the core regions will use.

Urban core - Maharashtra

Maharashtra is home to three of India's largest cities: Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur.                                                   Mumbai:

• home to 13 million people
• thriving business district, centre for banking, insurance and call centres
• manufacturing industry
• Bollywood
• Hub for media + technology

Rural periphery - Bihar

• Average income at £251 is 25% less than Maharashtra at £1,011
• 26 of India's 100 poorest districts are in Bihar
• 80% of people live in rural areas
• Poor education and high birth rates
• 58% of households have electricity
• Many people working as landless farm labourers producing barely enough food to feed their own family
• Government is more corrupt than other parts of India