IB Geography • HL5.1
Development Opportunities
How development is measured—and how governments, communities, enterprises and consumers can enlarge people’s choices.
Ways of supporting the processes of human development
Human development is more than growth
Income matters, but so do health, knowledge, dignity, participation, security and freedom.
GDP/GNI per person measures economic output or income. HDI combines income, education and life expectancy; GII examines reproductive health, empowerment and labour participation; MPI records overlapping household deprivations. All can illuminate development, but national averages conceal inequalities between genders, ethnic groups and places.
Enquiry 1 — Test the indices
- Choose two countries with similar income but contrasting HDI.
- Use the HDI components to explain the difference.
- Add GII or MPI evidence and identify one inequality hidden by each national average.
- Judge which measure best answers: “Where do people have the greatest development opportunities?”
The Sustainable Development Goals
The 17 goals connect social, economic and environmental development, but progress and responsibility remain uneven.
Goals, targets and indicators make development visible, yet data gaps can exclude marginalised groups. Students should look for synergies, such as education strengthening health and equality, and trade-offs, such as rapid industrial growth increasing emissions.
Enquiry 2 — SDG progress audit
Select one social, economic and environmental SDG. For each, record one success, one gap and one evidence limitation. Map two synergies and one trade-off, then recommend action at local, national and global scales.
Closing development gaps
Affirmative action changes access to representation, finance, education, land or employment.
Women, representation and remaining gaps
Constitutional and institutional change increased women’s political representation. Test whether visibility in parliament has translated into economic, household and social empowerment.
Māori enterprise and place
Whale Watch Kaikōura connects iwi ownership, tourism, employment and kaitiakitanga. Separate economic returns from cultural and political empowerment.
Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement
Tree planting linked livelihoods, ecological repair, women’s participation and democratic change across local, national and global scales.
Enquiry 3 — Empowerment scorecard
For one case, evaluate change in access, representation, income, decision-making and long-term control. Conclude whether it closes a gap, redistributes power, does both, or does neither.
Microfinance, Fairtrade and local value
Market-based approaches can expand opportunity, but participation in a market is not the same as escaping poverty.
Follow a microloan
Trace lenders, platform, field partner and borrower. Test interest, risk, gender impact and whether benefits endure beyond the loan cycle.
Label or development strategy?
Track how standards, minimum prices and premiums affect producers, workers, retailers and consumers—and who captures the greatest value.
Doi Tung
Evaluate the transition from opium production towards diversified livelihoods, social enterprise and place-based development.
Who is accountable in a global supply chain?
Voluntary corporate responsibility, national law and global agreements redistribute responsibility differently.
Garment-worker safety
Map brands, factory owners, workers, consumers and regulators. Examine how the disaster changed inspection, compensation and labour rights—and what gaps remain.
Responsibility by design
Audit claims about materials, repair, transparency and activism. Distinguish evidence of change from brand positioning.
Paper 3 synthesis
“Global interactions create development opportunities, but do not distribute them fairly.” Discuss using at least three examples and explicit evidence at different scales.