UN, World Bank devote annual development reports to geography and migration
In what may be a sign of an increasing awareness of the (long-standing) relevance of geographical factors relating to world poverty, hunger, and political and economic development, among other global concerns, both the United Nations and the World Bank have dedicated their respective 2009 annual development reports to the theme of geography.
While the official publication date of the United Nations’ 2009 Human Development Report is October 2009, the U.N. has provided an early synopsis of the report’s contents. Entitled “Human Development on the Move,” the 2009 report will focus on the role of migration in global human development outcomes. “The starting point” of the report “is that the global distribution of capabilities is extraordinarily unequal, and that this is a major driver for movement of people.” Defining the thrust of the report further they write, “migration can expand their choices– in terms of incomes, accessing services and participation, for example – but the opportunities open to people vary from those who are best endowed to those with limited skills and assets. These underlying inequalities, which can be compounded by policy distortions, will be a theme of the report.”
While discussing a somewhat narrower theme, relating geography firstly to economic, rather than human, development issues, the World Bank’s 2009 World Development Report entitled, “Reshaping Economic Geography,” is an interesting companion read to the HDR. The report suggests that “economic integration” is the linchpin to achieving widespread economic development; while they predict that “economic growth will be unbalanced,” a policy of “economic integration,” they believe, will promote positive growth via “agglomeration economies” such that “people who start their lives far away from economic opportunity can benefit from the growing concentration of wealth in a few places.” To achieve this goal, they argue that governments should emphasize “institutions that unify all places and put in place infrastructure that connects some places to others.”
As the WDR rightly notes, “migration results from forces that ‘pull’ as well as those that ‘push’ individuals to leave.” While global economic competitiveness can be pursued as one goal, true success in the domain of development will not be achieved unless individual wants—education, health, hunger—are addressed first. Governments should see the benefits in flourishing local (and less-dense) economies and should protect and enhance the way of life of the small and medium-sized village, rather than indiscriminately encourage the growth of megalopolises.
