Discuss the range of indicators that are now being used to measure world development. Explain why patterns of world development are changing.

Maps of the globe are produced to show levels of world development based on three key features; wealth, social advantage and deprivation.  An imaginary line can be seen around the world which separates the ‘developed’ countries and the ‘non developed’ countries.  This line is called the Brandt line.  It is a modern day method of measuring development.   It basically separates countries based on how economically stable a country is, how technologically advanced it is, how democratic and how modern a country is.  The line shows ‘most developed’ countries to the north and west, whereas the ‘least developed’ countries to the south and east.  As with every theory, there are exceptions.  These being Australia and New Zealand, which are classed as ‘developed’ countries.

Other indicators of development that are being used today are the PQLI, which is the physical quality of life index.  Also the IHSI, which is the International Human Suffering Index.  The PQLI is a quantitative measure of development and can be calculated by taking the average of three variables.  These are life expectancy, literacy rates, and infant mortality.  Again, the majority of countries with a high PQLI are found in the north, and those countries with a low PQLI are found in the south.  The IHSI is calculated by taking many factors into account.  Some of these are GNP, adult literacy rate, IMR per 1000, personal freedom, average rate of inflation and average annual growth of labour force.

The HDI is now generally recognized as a better indicator of a country’s position in the global development spectrum than the traditional measure, GDP per capita.

World development patterns are changing in response to changing definitions and concepts of development.

Important issues that are now considered to be important in measuring development are things like human suffering (HSI), the status of women in many ‘less developed countries’, and sustainable environmental practices.  In many countries today, women are treated very differently to men.  Millions of women throughout the world live in conditions of abject deprivation of, and attacks against their fundamental human rights for no other reason than they are women.  In Nepal, married women and widows have no rights to property or land.  In many countries, children born in their mother’s country are not allowed to adopt her nationality because women cannot transmit nationality.  These children are then denied a broad range of civil, political, economic and human rights when they grow up.  

Sustainable development has been defined as development which ‘meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.  It is a form of development in which living standards are improved, but at the same time the environment is used, managed and conserved on a long term basis with the future generations in mind.  Sustainable development implies social justice as well as environment sustainability.  

 Changes in the development process itself include economic change, changing external relationships and changing of internal structures.  The reunification of Germany is a good example of how patterns of world development are changing.  East and West Germany used to be separate countries until the collapse of the former communist government of East Germany.  Now, the two countries have joined to become one Germany.  The advantages of this are that the country now has a central command economy, and is now a western democracy.  Also, East Germany is an open market.  

Another example of how patterns of world development are changing is Newly Industrialized Countries or NIC’s as they are more commonly known.  A good example is South Korea, whose economic growth is high, at around 7% per year.  The country invests highly in its industrial base and it has a young, well educated workforce with full employment.  In order to become more flexible and competitive the Government is helping to fund small and medium sized businesses and industries to set up in the country to improve the economic strength of the country.