At its simplest, development is defined as a process resulting in economic growth, however this widely believed definition is a misconception and needs to include additional criteria (Hodder 2000). Development is multidimensional therefore encompasses political, technological, social and economic change, thus a more suitable definition is; an economic, social, and political process creating a sustained and significant rise in the perceived standard of living (Hodder 2000). With intention to include all aspects, researchers and policy makers seek to find the optimum methods to measure development (Desai and Potter 2014). Achieving this has been temporally dependent. From the 1950s to 1980s, economic growth was the predominant measure of development,
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It comprised of 9 domains and 124 variables to measure the well-being of the Bhutanese, as a result of the recognition that economic growth is not the only measure of development (Ura et al. 2012). However, a wider measure, and a universal indicator of development is the Human Development Index (HDI), first published in 1990 (Desai and Potter 2014). While the measurement initially comprised of three dimensions covering survival, knowledge and standard of living, this was changed in the Human Development Report whereby three dimensions became four indicators: life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, expected years of schooling and GNI (PPP) per capita. This data is compiled per country and converted into a score from zero to one, with the latter being the most developed (Desai and Potter 2014). Norway is the nation with the highest HDI and therefore the highest levels of development, with a score of 0.944 (UNDP 2013). This indicator suggests that the highest HDI scores reflect the highest levels of development. To a certain extent this is representative, as most of the countries are first world countries; however third world countries such as Chile and the Bahamas do exist in the category with the highest HDI (Potter et al. 2008). While this is beneficial for the provision of a …show more content…
The creation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in 2000 built upon this recognition, encouraging the world to attain enhanced development (Desai and Potter 2014). Part of this emergence has been a result of the uneven impact that development has historically possessed, typically ignoring those that are most poverty-stricken. Therefore, eight goals have guided the development framework include poverty reduction, education, gender equality, child mortality, maternal health, HIV/AIDS/disease, environment and global partnership (United Nations 2015). In many respects, MDGs have been successful in measuring development in ways that economic indicators alone cannot. For example, in South Asia, 103 girls are enrolled in primary school per 100 boys, 29 more than in 1990; substances harmful to ozone have almost been eradicated and only 14% of the world’s population live under the poverty line of $1.25 a day, compared to almost 50% in 1990 (United Nations 2015). These are just three ways that sustainable development can be achieved, that would not be recognised if development was only to be measured with reference to economic
It comprised of 9 domains and 124 variables to measure the well-being of the Bhutanese, as a result of the recognition that economic growth is not the only measure of development (Ura et al. 2012). However, a wider measure, and a universal indicator of development is the Human Development Index (HDI), first published in 1990 (Desai and Potter 2014). While the measurement initially comprised of three dimensions covering survival, knowledge and standard of living, this was changed in the Human Development Report whereby three dimensions became four indicators: life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, expected years of schooling and GNI (PPP) per capita. This data is compiled per country and converted into a score from zero to one, with the latter being the most developed (Desai and Potter 2014). Norway is the nation with the highest HDI and therefore the highest levels of development, with a score of 0.944 (UNDP 2013). This indicator suggests that the highest HDI scores reflect the highest levels of development. To a certain extent this is representative, as most of the countries are first world countries; however third world countries such as Chile and the Bahamas do exist in the category with the highest HDI (Potter et al. 2008). While this is beneficial for the provision of a …show more content…
The creation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in 2000 built upon this recognition, encouraging the world to attain enhanced development (Desai and Potter 2014). Part of this emergence has been a result of the uneven impact that development has historically possessed, typically ignoring those that are most poverty-stricken. Therefore, eight goals have guided the development framework include poverty reduction, education, gender equality, child mortality, maternal health, HIV/AIDS/disease, environment and global partnership (United Nations 2015). In many respects, MDGs have been successful in measuring development in ways that economic indicators alone cannot. For example, in South Asia, 103 girls are enrolled in primary school per 100 boys, 29 more than in 1990; substances harmful to ozone have almost been eradicated and only 14% of the world’s population live under the poverty line of $1.25 a day, compared to almost 50% in 1990 (United Nations 2015). These are just three ways that sustainable development can be achieved, that would not be recognised if development was only to be measured with reference to economic