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Contouring Human Development pp 1–30Cite as

Does Geography Matter in Human Development?

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Abstract

Human development encompasses the measurement, analysis, and interpretation by the practitioners of the different branches of socio-economic sciences in their own styles. All these scientific approaches contribute enormously to the policymaking processes of the states. The measurements and explanations of human development have been witnessing a steady shift from tacitly economic to liberal societal customization. Similarly, the human geography has been evolving through a series of well-recognized and charted phases, with evident regional groundings, and is presently linked to larger socio-economic dimensions which have corroborated the scope of human geography to take human development into its academic dialogue. The spatial concerns of human development have a larger implication in linking the parameters of human development to the spatial planning and policy framework; however, still, it is undermined in the domain of socio-economic sciences. The present chapter focuses on elucidating the role of geography, more specifically, the location, space, and spatial interactions of social and economic parameters in driving the pattern of human development on the globe.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Indian national daily newspaper Times of India made an exclusive coverage on the issues of Khakranagla village of Rajasthan in its circulation dated July 09, 2006 [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/A-Rajasthan-village-where-prostitution-is-tradition/articleshow/1717444.cms].

  2. 2.

    The Indian (Bengali) newspaper Ebela has circulated on August 14, 2016, that the same trend is being carried out in those Rajasthan villages [https://ebela.in/national/girls-in-this-village-are-carrying-on-their-tradition-of-prostitution-dgtl-1.456841].

  3. 3.

    The coverage of the national electronic media Zee News India on July 09, 2006 [https://zeenews.india.com/home/a-rajasthan-village-where-prostitution-is-tradition-the-times-of-india_307926.html].

  4. 4.

    The Bengali print media Anandabazar Patrika has covered the news of starvations in Purulia in its circulation dated August 19, 2018 [https://www.anandabazar.com/state/purulia-s-bimala-pandey-died-of-starvation-or-disease-not-clear-1.849807].

  5. 5.

    The news coverage of the English daily newspaper The Statesman in its circulation dated August 18, 2018 [https://www.thestatesman.com/opinion/a-painful-signal-1502674513.html].

  6. 6.

    The news of acute food crisis of the forest fringe dwellers around the forestlands in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal was served by the Bengali print media Anandabazar Patrika dated November 27, 2018 [https://www.anandabazar.com/state/villagers-of-rasa-near-khoyrasol-have-not-got-bpl-cards-1.904645].

  7. 7.

    What is human development? The United Nations Development Programme has elucidated the fundamental concept about the HD along with the a deep appreciation to the key contributors of the modern expression of the HD in its official Web site [http://hdr.undp.org/en/humandev].

  8. 8.

    This approach aims to fulfill the unmet basic needs of the poor because it assumes that people who are unable to meet their basic human requirements are living in poverty. It identifies a bundle of basic minimum requirements of human life such as food, shelter, clothing, clean water, and sanitation and examines whether the poor is afforded with those. Such a package guarantees valuable support to the poor struggling to survive, and once subsistence is assured the poor are in better shape to improve their lives further and come out of the poverty trap. The ease of implementation is the core strength of this approach.

  9. 9.

    The UNDP has made a clear statement about the limitation of HDI to express the entire dimension of the HD [URL: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi].

  10. 10.

    The role of the capability approach as the marker stone of the modern people-focused conceptualization of HD is clear from the HDRO [http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/what-human-development].

  11. 11.

    http://www.hdr.undp.org/en/content/inequality-adjusted-human-development-index-ihdi.

  12. 12.

    The eight MDGs were (1) eradication of extreme hunger and poverty; (2) achieving universal primary education; (3) promoting gender equity and empowering women; (4) reducing child mortality; (5) improving maternal health; (6) combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; (7) ensuring environmental sustainability; and (8) developing a global partnership for development.

  13. 13.

    Sustainable development is defined in many ways, but the most frequently quoted definition is given from ‘Our Common Future’ that is the Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987. Gro Harlem Brundtland was appointed as the chairperson of the commission by the UN Secretary-General. The commission was popularly known as the ‘Brundtland Commission’.

  14. 14.

    The parameters of the SDG are clearly listed in the UNDP’s official Web site [https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals.html].

  15. 15.

    It is an independent foundation under private law, based in Gütersloh, Germany. It was founded by Reinhard Mohn in 1977. It is today one of the largest operating foundations in Germany, with worldwide reach.

  16. 16.

    The field of academic scholarship that explores aspects of natural environment.

  17. 17.

    The field of academic scholarship that explores aspects of human society.

  18. 18.

    It is an anti-stream against the ‘traditional geography’ (i.e., geography as spatial science to study the earth surface processes and landforms). The pool of geographers from Western Europe and USA started focusing more on ‘socially relevant’ geographic topics to address the issues of inequality, deprivation, discrimination, malnutrition, exploitation, crime, environmental degradation, etc.

  19. 19.

    The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines space as (i) a limited extent in one, two, or three dimensions or (ii) an extent set apart or available or (iii) the distance from other people or things that a person needs in order to remain comfortable or (iv) a boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction or (v) a set of mathematical elements and especially of abstractions of all the points on a line, in a plane, or in physical space, etc.

  20. 20.

    Hyponymy shows the relationship between a generic term (hypernym) and a specific instance of it (hyponym). A hyponym is a word or phrase whose semantic field is more specific than its hypernym. The semantic field of a hypernym, also known as a superordinate, is broader than that of a hyponym. The hypernyms are also called ‘umbrella term’ because of their functions.

  21. 21.

    These theories contributed insightful analysis of the interplay between social relations and spatial structure.

  22. 22.

    The productivity of a region’s farms is economically considered important. It is not only about getting more food; rather, the increment of farms’ productivity affects the region's prospects for growth and competitiveness on the agricultural market, income distribution and savings, labor migration, and many other parameters of economic development.

  23. 23.

    Clans are the group of close-knit and interrelated families. The pre-civilization world witnessed these agglomeration, and the territorial jurisdictions were defined by the ‘war power’ of the clans which were administered by the clan leaders.

  24. 24.

    Principal figures of scholasticism were Anselm of Canterbury (known as the ‘father of scholasticism’), Peter Abelard, Alexander of Hales, Albertus Magnus, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas’s seminal work Summa Theologica (1265–1274) is considered as the masterpiece of scholastic, medieval, and Christian philosophy.

  25. 25.

    In the context of development, decentralization means transfer of certain authority and power in the matter of formulation and implementation of development plans from the highest organization or institution at the national level or state level to organizations or institutions at the substate level. The lower level, which includes districts, blocks, and Panchayats, has been assigned particular roles in the planning exercise and will be vested with the powers and the responsibilities associated with the roles.

  26. 26.

    What is human development? UNDP answered it in its Web, available in its official Web site http://www.hdr.undp.org/en.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Dr. Meghnad Saha College, Itahar, 733128, West Bengal, India

    Mukunda Mishra

  2. Department of Geography, Presidency University, Kolkata, 700073, West Bengal, India

    Soumendu Chatterjee

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Mishra, M., Chatterjee, S. (2020). Does Geography Matter in Human Development?. In: Contouring Human Development. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4083-7_1

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