Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
observable is thus an evolution of needs, which matches the evolution of
academic definitions of what development is about. For the advanced countries
such as the USA, the environmental features and sense of community are likely
to be valued very highly, as food and clothing are effectively taken for granted.
In Brazil or Bangladesh, food and clothing are likely to feature as important aims
for a significant segment of society. In the USA, states and cities could be and
were compared in terms of their provision of a broad range of facilities which go
to make up the quality of life (Cutter 1986). There are comparable studies of
British cities done in the 1980s, where the numerous elements involved were
weighted by consumer indications of their importance (Rogerson et al. 1989).
Clearly the list of items here could be extended indefinitely, to include personal
states of mind which also contribute to human happiness. In the geographical and
sociological literature on the subject, however, attention has been confined to
those elements that are available publicly, not individual matters which come
into the realm of psychology. In common with the welfare geography emphasis,
quality-of-life studies have generally concentrated on consumption aspects,
which begs a question. It is always necessary, for city, region or country, to
produce the conditions that allow consumption. Thus in recent decades, the
attention of academics and planners may be said to have been somewhat diverted,
by failing to concentrate sufficiently on the supply factors, resources, technology
and human organization which allow development.
Processes
Apart from what is defined as part of development, briefly reviewed above, there
is the question of what kinds of processes are involved. Most students would
identify many interrelated processes, but the most important are likely to be: the
growth of per capita income, whether measured as production or consumption; a
series of demographic changes towards a modern society with small families and
low death and birth rates; and a set of unbalancing features, including the
concentration of population in a few cities, of industries, and rising inequalities
between sectors of society and between regions of countries.
This view of the development process may be enlivened and given a time
sequence by considering what Alonso (1980) identified as a collection of parallel
evolutions, his “five bell shapes in development”. In a period of development, he
observed, there are several features which seem to move in the same way, rising
to a peak and then subsiding. They are: (a) the economic growth rate; (b) the
level of social inequality (between classes, occupations, races); (c) the level of
regional inequality; (d) the level of geographic or spatial concentration (urban-
industrial growth in a few big cities); and (e) the population growth rate, in
demographic transition (from high birth and death rates to low birth and death
rates). It is important to note that these five bell shapes do not occur at the same
time, and that they are closely related, although the relationships will vary
between countries and regions. Alonso's impression was that geographic
