Tourism and Socio-cultural Development Issues - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 215

Data are collected from other large organisations and institutions such as
United Nations, World Health Organization, The Economist Intelligence
Unit, Gallop World Poll, and so on (Fehder & Stern, 2013). Michael Green
remarked that the SPI revealed that the wealthier a country becomes, the less
sustainable it becomes from an environmental perspective, and that wealth-
ier countries with higher GDPs show less social progress than lower-income
countries (Paulson, 2013).
Figure 7.2 identifies the three dimensions of the SPI: basic human
needs, foundations of well-being, and opportunity. Each dimension has
four components; however, when each component is closely examined, there
are two to six indicators per component. For example, under the 'Basic
Human Needs' dimension, the 'Shelter' component has two indicators
('Availability of affordable housing' and 'Access to electricity') while the
component 'Nutrition and Basic Medical Care' has six indicators ('Under-
nourishment', 'Depth of food deficit', 'Maternal mortality rate', 'Stillbirth
rate', 'Child mortality rate' and 'Prevalence of tuberculosis'). In total, 52
indicators are calculated and aggregated results are used to measure three
dimensions.
At the time of writing this chapter, the SPI has been publicised for only
a couple of months and its real value, validity and possible shortcomings are

Social Progress Index

Foundations of
Well-being

Basic Human Needs Opportunity

Access to Basic
Knowledge

Nutrition and Basic
Medical Care
Air, Water and
Sanitation

Personal Rights

Access to
Information and
Communication
Health and
Wellness

Access to Higher
Education
Personal Freedom
and Choice
Equity and
Inclusion

Shelter

Personal Safety

Ecosystem
Sustainability

Does a country
provide for its people's
most essential needs?

Are the building blocks in
place for individuals and
communities to enhance
and sustain wellbeing?

Is there opportunity for
all individuals to reach
their full potential?

Figure 7.2 Three dimensions of Social Progress Index
Source: After Porter et al. (2013: 8); see www.socialprogressimperative.org/data/spi for an
interactive index chart.