1. Secondary 4 Pure Geography
Human Geography (2235/2)
Sec 4 Chapter 9
Variations in Development in the World
Enquiry questions:
1) What is development?
2) How does it measured by?
3) Why is development necessary?
Content:
Uneven development exists between DCs and LDCs:
o Core-periphery relationship between DCs and LDCs
- Economic (income per capita, employment structure and employment opportunities
- Health (life expectancy, infant mortality rate, water supply and sanitation)
- Education (literacy rate)
Learning objectives:
Be able to define development and explain the need for it;
Be able to describe the goals of development;
Be able to describe Rostow’s Model of Development;
Be able to list the indicators for measuring development.
Key terms:
Development: the process of change that improves the well-being of a society.
Quality of life: social well-being related to bodily comfort like sufficient food, clothing &
shelter associated with mental happiness like good health, freedom of speech, mobility,
leisure and a stress-free lifestyle.
Standard of living: favourable or desirable living conditions like availability of goods and
services, access to electricity, clean water supply, education and good medical cum health
services and affordable public cum private transport.

2. Secondary 4 Pure Geography
Human Geography (2235/2)
Sec 4 Chapter 9
Why development and what are the goals of development?
Section I: Introduction
Development is defined as the process of change that improves the well-being of a society.
There is a need to develop the less developed countries (LDCs).
Section II: Reasons for development
1) Moral conviction about rights
It is not right that poverty, hunger and disease were denying millions of people in LDCs their
rights for basic needs like food and healthcare.
2) Untapped market potential
Due to the large population found in the LDCs, developing these LDCs would provide a
huge market for western products to reap bigger profits.
3) Fear of spread of diseases
The risk of diseases that originate from the poor countries to spread to the richer countries is
quite huge hence it is vital that these countries are able to prevent the spread.
Section III: Goals of development
1) Improving economies of LDCs
Economies can be improved by:
o increasing production of food and cash crops;
o increasing productivity & adoption of modern technology;
o diversifying into secondary, tertiary and quaternary industries;
o upgrading workers’ skills;
o encouraging women to participate in the labour force;
o getting people to work for longer periods of time and;
o increasing exports.
This would generate greater income for the LDCs so that they can improve the social
and physical infrastructure in the country and catch up with the DCs.

3. 2) Improving quality of life in LDCs
Quality of life in LDCs can be improved by:
o providing equal educational opportunities;
o providing proper sanitation facilities;
o providing basic healthcare;
o providing electricity to rural areas;
o providing a source of income for rural people and;
o building better roads.
For example, Singapore improved its housing since the 60s where 1-3 room flats were built,
then in 80s, the New Town character was promoted to create a sense of identity and then
past 2000s, the older flats are upgraded and executive condos were built for the richer.
This would provide the facilities required by the rural people to improve the living
conditions and this makes them have greater comfort and be able to develop the
country further.
Section IV: Rostow’s Model of Development
1) Stage 1: Traditional society
In this stage, countries are majoritily involved in the primary industry and have poor
infrastructure. They also have little or no surplus from economy.
2) Stage 2: Preconditions for take off
In this stage, the country receives financial aid from DCs and they begin developing
infrastructure and industries with that money.

4. 3) Stage 3: Take off
The secondary industries see exponential growth and there is vast improvements to
infrastructure within a short period of time.
4) Stage 4: Drive to maturity
There is country-wide economic growth. It undergoes rapid urbanisation and it is majoritily
involved in the secondary industry. The infrastructure is also very good.
5) Stage 5: High Mass Consumption
The country is majoritily involved in tertiary industries. The country also enjoys high
economic surpluses.
Food for Thought – Disadvantages of the model:
A country might not take off even when a lot of financial aid is given because of:
1. Lack of raw materials and technology
2. Rapid growth in population
3. Natural disasters
4. Poor planning
5. Money used to buy basic needs
6. Political instability due to corruption, collusion1 and nepotism2
Section V: Core-periphery relationship
1
Negative collaboration among people in the government
2
Government officials are picked because of family relations and not skill

5. Secondary 4 Pure Geography
Human Geography (2235/2)
Sec 4 Chapter 9
What are the indicators of development?
Section I: Introduction
Development is defined as the process of change that improves the well-being of a society.
There is a need for clear boundaries and criteria to determine the development of a country.
Section II: Indicators of development
Economic Indicators
(+) reflects the ability to purchase the goods and services they want and need
(-) does take into account the source of income, the quality of life and socioenvironmental costs
1) Income per capita*
1) Gross National Product (GNP) per capita
A country’s GNP refers to the total income of the nationals in the country that year.
The GNP per capita refers to the average income of each member of population.
2) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita
A country’s GDP refers to the total income generated in a country that year.
The GDP per capita refers to the average income generated by each member of population.
o For example, the GDP per capita of Singapore (HDIr:26) is US$50 633 per capita
as compared to the GDP per capita of Congo (HDIr:187) is US$319 per capita.
(+) A more developed country would have a higher income per capita and hence they
are able to purchase the goods and services of their needs and wants because they
are working in higher-paying jobs.
(-) However, income per capita is only an average. Wealth may not be distributed
equally and there might be a fraction of the population living in poverty despite the
country’s high GDP per capita.
(-) Also, it does not reflect the source of contributions. A very lucrative industry may
generate a large percentage of the country’s GDP but the industry employs only a
small percentage of the population. It means that many locals could still be in poverty.
(-) It also does not measure quality of life that may be quite bad due to stress to earn
the GDP for the country.

6. 2) Employment structure*
A country that has a larger percentage of its workers in the secondary and tertiary
industries is said to be more developed than a country with a large percentage of its
workers in the primary industries.
LDCs generally have a large percentage of its workers in the primary industries.
This is because the primary industries are low value-added and hence they earn less
revenue than the DCs.
Also, the workforce is less educated and do not have the skills because the social
infrastructure (ie. access to education) is less developed.
However, DCs generally have a large percentage of its workers in tertiary industries.
Tertiary industries are high value-added and hence the workers earn more revenue.
Also, the workforce is highly educated and hence they have the skills required for the tertiary
industries because access to education is very easy.
Also, the population has a higher disposable income to spend on luxuries and premium
services and hence the service sector thrives and expands to cater to the demand.
o For example, country D (30% primary, 10% secondary, 60% tertiary) is generally
more developed than country B (80% primary, 10% secondary, 10% tertiary).
3) Employment opportunities
Usually, DCs have abundant employment opportunities due to the abundance of jobs.
This is because when people have a greater desire for finer things in life and they earn more
money in DCs, they encourage the growth of secondary industries that manufacture the
goods as well as the tertiary industries that provides the goods and services to the
consumer. This creates more jobs to cater to the needs of the consumers.
However, in LDCs, there is little employment opportunities due to lack of demand.
In LDCs, people tend to be poorer as they work in low value-added primary industries.
Hence, there is little demand for goods and services and there is little need for businesses
to expand since the demand is just so little hence it will not create new jobs.
There might be an outflow of talent where people from LDCs migrate to DCs in search for
jobs, resulting in a brain-drain periphery country that has little opportunities to develop.
However, lately the employment opportunities in LDCs have been increasing due to the
trend of transference where DCs locate their factories in LDCs to benefit from lower
operating costs.

7. 4) Transport and communication infrastructure
If a country is developed, it would have an extensive transport network that would
take up a percentage of the land area.
This is because developed countries depend on their manufacturing and service industries.
An inefficient transport system will cause productivity to decrease as a result in the loss of
manhours. As such a country that has a developed transport network with highways, ports,
airports and roads is usually more developed.
A developed country also has an extensive communication network with a large number of
telephone main lines per 1000 persons, an indication of the wealth of the people.
For example,
o Singapore (HDIr: 26) has 1496 mobile phone subscriptions per 1000 population
while Ethiopia (HDIr:174) has 80 mobile phone subscriptions per 1000 population.
5) Commercial energy consumption
A country that has a high commercial energy consumption is usually more developed.
This is because it is very advanced in terms of industrialisation, meaning that it has a lot of
factories and as such more energy is used.
This means that the country is majoritily involved in the secondary industries and is more
developed than another country that has a low commercial energy consumption because it
is majoritily involved in the primary industries.
Health Indicators
(+) holistic indicators that reflects many issues (ie. nutrition, access to water, sanitation)
(-) does not reflect the ability to access the facilities (ie. amount of money that is spent there)
6) Life expectancy*
A country with a higher life expectancy is usually more developed than a country with
a lower life expectancy.
Life expectancy refers to the average number of years someone is expected to live
This is because the people in DCs tend to live in better and cleaner environments as well as
having access to health care.
However, in LDCs, there is little economic wealth due to the nature of their jobs.
This means that they cannot afford proper housing and health care.
When people are sick, the productivity of the workforce drops affecting the country’s GDP.
With the drop in GDP, governments have little resources to provide healthcare facilities.
As such, they are trapped in a poverty cycle that prevents them from helping themselves
improve the health conditions.
For example,
o the life expectancy of Singapore (HDIr:26) is 81.1 years as compared to the life
expectancy of Ethiopia (HDIr:174) is 59.3 years.

8. 7) Infant mortality rate*
The lower the infant mortality rate, the more developed the country is.
Infant mortality rate refers to the rate at which the number of babies less than one year of
age dies per 1000 live births.
In DCs, most infants are born in proper hospitals under the supervision of trained medical
personnel hence thet receive proper medical attention.
However, the lack of doctors and medical facilities in LDCs make giving birth very risky and
hence a significant number of babies die due to lack of medical attention.
For example,
o percentage of births attended by skilled personnel in Singapore (HDIr:26) is 100%
while the percentage of births with that in Ethiopia (HDIr:174) is 6%.
o infant mortality rate per 1000 live births in Singapore (HDIr:26) under five years is 3
as compared to in Ethiopia (HDIr:174) under five years is 104.
8) Potable water supply*
The better the access to clean water supply, the more developed the country is.
In DCs, people have access to clean water supply any time they want.
This is because the countries have the monetary resources to build water purification plants
to purify the water to make it safe for consumption.
In LDCs, people might need to travel long distances to get little water.
This is because the countries do not have the resources to build the plantsto purify water
hence the people need to walk to the nearest well to collect water.
They are also prone to water-borne diseases (eg. cholera and typhoid) and contaminated
water. Nearly 3.6 million people die yearly from water-related diseases. At any time, half of
the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from water-borne diseases.
For example,
o the percentage of population deprived of clean water in Singapore (HDIr: 26) is 0%
as compared to population deprived of clean water in Ethiopia (HDIr:174) is 53.8%.
9) Sanitation*
The better the sanitation facilities that can be used, the more developed the country is.
DCs can build modern sewage systems to carry waste away to treatment facilities.
They have the monetary resources to build the sewage systems and to have private
sanitation facilities (eg. bathrooms and toilets) in their own homes.
Unlike DCs, LDCs may have very little sanitation facilities or they may lack it totally.
Waste is usually left in the open or buried in the fields haphazardly. This may contaminate
nearby water resources as well as food supplies.
For example,
o the percentage of population deprived of sanitation in Singapore (HDIr:26) is 0%
while the population deprived of sanitation facilities in Ethiopia (HDIr:174) is 83.7%.

9. Education indicators
(+) shows potential of development in the future since human capital investment brings returns
(-) different countries have different standards for what they define as illiterate
10) Literacy rate*
The higher the literacy rate, the more developed the country is.
Literacy rate refers to the percentage of population who are 15 years and above who can
read and write.
This is because if a country has a high literacy rate, it means that they are educated.
This gives them the skills to use technology so that they can work in the secondary and
tertiary industries to earn more income.
However the low literacy rates in LDCs hinder development because people do not possess
the knowledge and skills to contribute to the economic development of a country. Thus, their
workforce will not be as technologically savvy as that of DCs.
For example,
o the literacy rate in Singapore (HDIr:26) is 94.7% as compared to Ethiopia (HDIr:174)
which is 29.8%.
o the pupil-teacher ratio in Singapore (HDIr:26) is 17.4 students per teacher as
compared to Ethiopia (HDIr:174) which is 57.9 students per teacher.