Most people associate development with economic improvement, that is an improvement in your standard of living. However development is more than just income and wealth-related.
Development can be measured in terms of social improvement to education, health and equality. Is a rich nation necessarily a happy one? Development is as much about access to wealth than the amount of wealth you own. Therefore, the two most important ways of measuring development are economic development and human development.
- Economic development is a measure of a country’s wealth and how it is generated (for example agriculture is considered less economically advanced then banking)
- Human development measures the access the population has to wealth, jobs, education, nutrition, health, leisure and safety – as well as political and cultural freedom. Material elements, such as wealth and nutrition, are described as the standard of living. Health and leisure are often referred to as quality of life.
The above 2 bullet points were sourced from BBC Bitesize
Look through the below photos. Discuss or write down what you see, think and wonder. Then try to explain how it shows or measures development. You can help yourself categorising the photos into economic and social development. There is one photo showing inequalities – can you identify which one it is and explain why?
Geo-Revision 