Development, Urbanization, Migration, and Quality of Life - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 111

Figure 4-10
I took this picture at about 14,000 feet (4,200 m) in
the Indian Himalayas. No machines were available
for the repair of this main road. Instead, three
women operated a shovel. In this system, one digs
the shovel into the dirt, then the other two pull the
rope that pulls the shovel to move the dirt. Some
shovel-rope teams comprise only two people. While
this system may not seem very efficient, it provides
more employment than a machine. Moreover , the
shovel-rope system is appropriate to the terrain.
Photograph courtesy of B. A. Weightman.

done in four hours. Another type of underemployment is
the hiring of several individuals to do the job ordinarily
held by one person. Also, there is hidden underemployment,
based on group or family solidarity , where everyone partic-
ipates in the work whether they are needed or not.
While unemployment denies means of livelihood,
underemployment provides both income and sense of
self worth (Figure 4-10). Homeless women in Mumbai
chop rocks to make gravel, carry bricks, mix cement, and
do other arduous tasks. Meanwhile, they can live within
the project they are building. When it is finished, they
will move on to another construction site. Children work
alongside their parents. Economically , at the national
level, this is not an ideal situation because the cost of

services for surplus labor takes away from potentially
broader expenditures. But, individually , at the local level,
underemployment is preferable to no employment.
With disproportionate investment and capital concen-
tration, cities exhibit dramatically disparate landscapes.
Landscapes of power and privilege contrast with those of
powerlessness and denial. Y et, many poor are employed by
their rich counterparts as watchmen/guards, house ser-
vants, gardeners, drivers, and the like (Figure 4-11).

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ZONES
Another vital urban phenomenon is the trans-border
development region. T Trans-border development regions

Figure 4-11
This beautiful house in India shows how the upper
classes live. Note the gardener watering the plants.
I took this picture on Christmas Day , and the star
above the doorway indicates that this is a Christian
household. The star is lit at night. Photograph courtesy
of B. A. Weightman.