Economic Underdevelopment And Sustainable Development In The World:Conditioning Factors,Problems And Opportunities

This paper deals with the various factors that condition underdevelopment in the world. It suggests some alternatives and points out the potential opportunities that both the developed and the underdeveloped world will have in the coming years to change the gloomy prospects that we see today. The present paper outlines the trends in historical priorities in development, changing as they pass from economic development to social development to ecological conservation – the three pillars of Sustainable Development.The paper analyses the importance of geography, a very relevant and often neglected conditioning factor. Also, it analyses the role of socio-economic conditioning factors like political immaturity, demographics, land ownership and external debt.Furthermore, the current opportunities for economic take-off are presented, from cash surpluses to low interest rates, from natural resource management to tourism or migration, from the Information Revolution to liberalisation of agricultural markets. Current obstacles are also analysed. The paper, on the basis of current facts and figures, reaches the conclusion that there is a structural need for sustained development aid for most poor countries, but it must be distributed in a more rational way.Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Fire risk reduction through a community‐based risk assessment: reflections from Makola Market,Accra, Ghana

This paper explores the level of vulnerability to the hazard of fire that exists in Makola Market in Accra, Ghana, and assesses how this threat can be reduced through a community‐based risk assessment. It examines the perceptions of both market‐stall occupants and primary stakeholders regarding the hazard of fire, and analyses the availability of local assets (coping strategies) with which to address the challenge. Through an evaluation of past instances of fire, as well as in‐depth key stakeholder interviews, field visits, and observations, the study produces a detailed hazard map of the market. It goes on to recommend that policymakers consider short‐to‐long‐term interventions to reduce the degree of risk. By foregrounding the essence of holistic and integrated planning, the paper calls for the incorporation of disaster mitigation measures in the overall urban planning process and for the strict enforcement of relevant building and fire safety codes by responsible public agencies.     

Commerce and cruises: a comparative study of Jamaican waterfront transformations

Caribbean urban waterfronts have been extensively modified in recent decades to encourage business (especially through the development of new commercial districts) and tourism (particularly in the form of cruise shipping). This paper draws on three case studies from Jamaica to explore the processes through which waterfronts have been redeveloped and the ways in which these spaces are used. The transformation and ongoing management of these waterfronts involve the negotiation of a complex set of power relationships between stakeholders operating at a variety of scales, including national governments, the private sector, Jamaican citizens and tourists. The position of waterfronts at the junction of the “urban” and the “natural” environments provides a fruitful nexus for examining the intricacies of society–nature relationships, and illustrates the ways in which ideas of modernity, development, identity and exclusion are incorporated into the local environment.     

The diffusion of environmental management in Greece through rationalist approaches: driver or product of globalisation?

Globalisation trends in economy and governance have resulted in a change in policy instruments towards harmonised initiatives, which are considered to a great extent pivotal for countries to engage with. ISO14001 is seen as constitutive of these wider concepts and is the focus here in explaining their diffusion in national contexts.This article questions the extent to where the adoption of ISO14001 in Greece is motivated by environmental sustainability or processes of economic globalisation. It indicates that in order to facilitate progress towards sustainability through environmental management, proper institutional arrangements and a legal framework must be established and executed by the government and society at large.     

Economic Growth and Environmental Degradation in a Global Context

The overall aim of this study is to analyse the relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation with particular reference to carbon emissions and deforestation. The analysis is based upon the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) model, which posits an inverted-U relationship between incomes per capita and environmental quality. In particular, the present analysis tries to take into account the current process of globalisation with the aim of defining the impact of the progressive global economic integration on the relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation. The study confirms that there is an inverted-U relationship between income growth and carbon emissions, while the relationship results less clear in the case of forest change. The inclusion of globalisation in the analysis confirms similar results and suggests a direct link between an increase in the rate of integration with the global economy and a worsening in terms of environmental degradation.     

Use of embodied energy and ecological footprinting to assess the global environmental impact of consumption in an Irish city-region

The objective of this paper is to compare the carbon emissions produced as a result of product consumption by the residents of an Irish city-region, that is Limerick City and its environs. The resulting carbon footprints are used to compare imports of food items, manufactured products and construction materials with domestic production as well as changes between 1996 and 2002. The total ecological footprints (EF) associated with product consumption are also calculated by aggregating the theoretical land required to sequester carbon emissions and the terrestrial land area appropriated for agricultural production and industrial activity. It is suggested that this approach be used to allocate producer or consumer responsibility for environmental impacts from trade.     

Space for equity: socioeconomic variations in the provision of public parks in Hermosillo,Mexico

This article examines the intersection between globalisation and allocation of open public space by testing the spatial equity hypothesis in Hermosillo, Mexico, a regional city impacted directly by global processes. Availability and accessibility of public parks were examined using a geographic information system and neighbourhoods were stratified into quintiles based on socioeconomic status. Overall, the analysis shows that the amount of public park space in Hermosillo is substandard and its distribution reveals a pattern of spatial inequity affecting primarily residents of poor neighbourhoods. We argue that as the economy of the city grows increasingly integrated into global circuits, the global-to-local connection materialises in an unequal competition between globalised spaces and local public space. This, in turn, leads to further relegation of neighbourhoods that are already on the margins of urban equity regarding access to public parks. This study extends prior research conducted in developed countries to a city in a developing nation and fills a vacuum of information that potentially can contribute to a more equitable development in Hermosillo.     

Panarchy and community resilience: Sustainability science and policy implications

How does the resilience concept of nested relationships (panarchy) contribute to sustainability science and policy? Resilience at a particular level of organization, the community level in our case, is influenced by internal processes at that level. But it is also impacted by actions at lower levels of organization (individuals, households), and by drivers of change originating at higher levels (national level policies, globalized market forces). We focus on community level social-ecological systems, looking upwards and downwards from there. Our objective is to explore the connections of the community to other levels, the ways in which community resilience is impacted, and the implications of this for sustainability. Conventional disciplines specialize at different levels, a barrier to investigating multi-level interactions. Use of the panarchy concept helps contribute to the interdisciplinary understanding of resilience at the community (and other levels) by drawing attention to cross-scale relationships. From the effect of individual leadership to the implication of pandemics that move swiftly across levels, examples illustrate a diversity of ways in which community resilience is shaped in a multi-level world.     

Fair trade as a strategy for international competitiveness

At the centre of the debate surrounding sustainable development is a recognition that companies can make a major contribution by being environmentally and socially responsible and that tools associated with these concepts can enhance the competitiveness and economic performance of the firm. In this paper we go further in arguing that in a world of globalisation it is equally important to look at issues of international trade.

In an examination of free trade we argue that it is neither fully consistent with sustainable development nor to the benefit of business. We point to a new imperative to develop sound sourcing, and equitable and fair trading relationships. We identify issues associated with fair trade (including issues of human rights, fair wages, sustainability reporting procedures and codes of conduct on ethics) and associated tools of analysis (guaranteed prices, codes of conduct and end price audits).

The paper argues that in a world of globalisation with greater transparency and information availability it will be important for companies to be clear about their policies on supply chain management and trade. Indeed, with the growth of an active and sophisticated civil society, it will be argued that policies associated with sound sourcing, equitable trade and fair trade could provide companies with a new competitive strategy based on ethical standards communicated to the consumer through a strategy of differentiation. We explore strategies for the integration of fair trade policies, strategies and standards, and the opportunities for new markets and niches that this presents. It is argued that the integration of fair trade into a business strategy can enhance competitiveness.     

Localising the global food system

Agricultural systems have become increasingly industrialized and mechanized, relying on machinery and chemical inputs, rather than people and natural processes, to increase yields of food. The trend towards an increasingly globalised food system encourages unsustainable transportation of food around the world. Agricultural intensification and the globalisation of the agrofood chain has resulted in adverse environmental, social and economic consequences impeding moves towards sustainability. Organic farming can overcome many of the environmental problems associated with agricultural intensification. However, it does not have the potential to fully address the social and economic problems caused by the globalisation of the food system. Organic farming must be combined with local and regional sourcing of food products, for instance through forms of direct marketing of organic produce. Direct marketing schemes such as farmers' markets, food box delivery schemes and community-supported agriculture are all projects which, if managed with sustainability as the prime objective, have the potential to move towards a more socially, environmentally and economically sustainable agrofood system.