The consequences of uneven development, and how investment, industrial development, aid, intermediate technology, fair trade, debt relief, microfinance and tourism can reduce the development gap.

What this dot point is asking

This is AQA GCSE Geography (8035) Paper 2, Section B (3.2.2 The changing economic world). AQA expects you to explain the consequences of uneven development, evaluate the range of strategies used to reduce the development gap (investment, industrial development, aid, intermediate technology, fair trade, debt relief, microfinance and tourism), and use a named example of how one strategy, such as tourism, has helped a country develop.

Consequences of uneven development

These consequences reinforce each other. Low incomes mean people cannot afford good food, housing or healthcare, so they are more likely to be ill and less able to work, which keeps incomes low: a cycle of poverty. Uneven development also fuels migration, which can drain poorer countries of skilled workers (a "brain drain") while filling labour shortages in richer ones. At a global scale the gap shows clearly in the contrast between higher-income countries (HICs), newly emerging economies (NEEs) and lower-income countries (LICs).

Strategies to reduce the gap

A range of strategies can narrow the development gap, and the best answers can explain how each one works:

No single strategy is a complete answer. Top-down strategies (large dams, big TNC investment) can drive fast growth but may create debt and benefit the wealthy most; bottom-up strategies (microfinance, intermediate technology, fair trade) reach the poor more directly but work at a smaller scale.

Tourism in Jamaica

A named example is tourism in Jamaica, a Caribbean island. Tourism is a major part of the economy: it creates jobs in hotels, restaurants, transport and entertainment, brings in foreign currency, and funds improvements to infrastructure such as Sangster International Airport and roads, raising the country's GNI. The multiplier effect spreads income to local suppliers and services.

However, the benefits are uneven. Much of the profit leaks out of the country to foreign-owned hotel chains, airlines and tour operators; many tourism jobs are low-paid and seasonal; and over-reliance on one sector leaves Jamaica vulnerable to global recessions and hurricanes that can cut visitor numbers overnight. A balanced answer recognises both the real development tourism brings and these limits.

Try this

Q1. State two consequences of uneven development. [2 marks]

• Cue. Differences in wealth and health, and international migration from poorer to richer countries.

Q2. Using a named example, explain how tourism can help a country develop. [4 marks]

• Cue. In Jamaica tourism creates jobs, brings foreign currency and funds infrastructure, though profits can leak abroad.