Geography of Latin America - Assignment Example

Two essays of Geography of Latin America QUESTION Import substitution industrialization is an economic theory used by developing nations to achieve economic growth and socio-economic modernization, and their wish is to raise their self-reliance and decrease their dependency on the developed countries. They usually do this by promoting and replacing foreign imports with the domestic productions, through this the individual countries are able to protect and to nurture their infant domestic industries so that they may grow to compete with imported goods and make the home economy more self-sufficient. The concept was that the ISI would encourage a process of learning driven by experience to new ideas and processes that would dynamically spill out over into the whole financial system. This policy emerged immediately after the Second World War in Latin American countries; it employed various avenues such as subsidized government loans to business entrepreneurs and development projects, tariffs and import quotas. It is also expected to integrate three main stages, which is; domestic production of previously imported effortless non-durable consumer goods; addition domestic production to wider range customer durables and more compound manufactured products and export of manufactured goods and sustained industrial diversification. In simple term it means removing barriers and restrictions in businesses as well as seeking to create a laissez-fair environment for economic developments in a country. While on the other hand, neoliberalism is an economic move toward money matters as well as social studies in which control of trade and industries are moved from the public sector to the private sector. In other words it is a modified form of traditional liberalism which is based on a belief in free market capitalism and the rights of the individual. The policy suggests that the governments reduce arrears, maximize subsidies, improve tax law to make wider the tax base, get rid of fixed exchange rates, open up markets to trade by preventive protectionism, privatize the state-owned businesses, permit private possessions and back deregulation. Both import substitution industrialization theory and neoliberalism are vital in creating employment opportunities in the individual countries thus improving the living standards of their citizens. Investments in the informal sector promote job security for the formally unemployed. Good labor regulation policies are very important in extinguishing dangers related to jobs in different sectors of the economy of the individual countries. Both policies have played a critical role in providing employment opportunities and a comparatively safe workplace atmosphere for millions of people in Latin American countries that have improved on the developmental opportunities in economic sectors. The industrial gathering generated significant work opportunities in the cities, which together with the change of traditional modes of production in the landscape, fuelled immense population movement from rural to urban settlements to the extent that is resulted to urban centers becoming demographically populated hence urban primacy; whereby the populations of these main urban centers goes beyond those of the secondary cities. This has become a feature of most developing countries as their citizen move from places to places in search for better job opportunities and improved lifestyles. Due to high populations in the urban centers, most people have been pushed to squatter settlements where life has been unbearable to most be people because of low-income or lack of job opportunities. After the Second World War, most countries faced economic depression; there were little industrial activities and fewer opportunities for economic growth. This was the time when centers in these particular Latin American countries were at the margin of national authorities as well as representatives; it is worth noting that they have progressed into cities with national and international companies. Even though there are several factors that might have contributed to the rapid urban growth and development, business opportunities that have been created through Laissez-fair and the privatization of other state-run industries and the development of the requisite infrastructure has played the most important role in hurling Latin American nations forward into the 21st century. ISI helped diversify the economies of the Latin American countries and neo-liberalism increases effectiveness by opening the economies to more trade and foreign investments that led to urban development. Urban development during the period after the Second World War was as a result mainly connected to the varying commercial functions of cities. Large scale national and international migration also propelled and played a prominent role in shaping patterns of urbanization in most urban centers as they realized significant human inflows from all over the world. The developed urban centers have also improved in the quality of services they offer to the inhabitants; this includes services such as, electricity, clean running waters, improved garbage pickup and disposal, a forestation and better transport facilities that are reliable. QUESTION 2 Sustainable development is the “Development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. It is a development the incorporate three main factors that is; the economic development, environmental protection as well as social equity. It gives main concern in the improving of conditions of the world’s poorest in line with the decisions that encompass the rights of the future generations; emphasis are based on the preventive principle, it also embodies incorporation, and understanding and acting on the multifaceted interconnections that is present between the environment, economy and society. In more simple terms, sustainable development implies cost-effective growth together with the protection of environmental quality, each reinforcing the other. This is according to the UN conference on the Human Environment that was held in Stockholm in 1972, that was concerned with the accelerating deteriorating of the human environment and natural resources and the consequences of that deterioration for economic and social development. The quintessence of this form of development is a stable relationship between human activities and the natural world, which does not diminish the prospects for future generations to be able to enjoy a quality of life at least better than it is now. Thoroughly incorporating cultural specificities in the conception, measurement, and practice of development is very important as it ensures the participation of the local population and a desirable outcome of development efforts. Culture can be a powerful driver for economic development, cultural heritage always strengthens social identities, and its conservation and sound management is one of the fundamentals of any development that is intended to advantage the present generations at the same time as accounting for future ones. Cultural diversity is in line with the principles of sustainable development and in the need to be documented and declared for future generations. Tourism needs to address social, environmental, economic and preservation issues to the locals in order to have a sustainable development. Sustainable tourism represents an important driver of sustainable economic growth and descent job creation. Therefore it is much important to have in place Cultural tourism that can lead to an improved security of urban landscapes, a better preservation and appearance of public places as well as construction of new infrastructures to service tourists, and even to benefit the locals. With the advancement in the information technology cultural tourism has also moved to E-tourism where tourists are able to plan and arrange for their trips prior because they are able to access business services online hence knowledgeable, and with the more advancement in ICT programs, it will move to the level of cultural E-tourism. Environmentally, sustainable development encompasses the human the relationship that exists between human beings and their natural, artificial as well as social environments. Conservation and the preservation of the available fresh God given air, water and food materials for present and future generations are vital for environmentally sustainable development. Using environmentally-friendly methods in human activities such as farming, industrialization and other economic activities such as the use of other non-fossil fuel sources like solar and wind promotes sustainable developments. However, most countries have jeopardized the efforts to implement sustainable development due to lack of financial and technological resources and ignorance due to lack of information on the consequences of unsustainable developments. The institutions in addition to policies put in place to address the sustainable development were… “Not only weak but they had been directed one way or another to tackle the symptoms of environmental degradation and to ignore its sources. The sources, of course, are to be found in government (and corporate) fiscal, tax, budget, trade, energy, agriculture and other policies and in the values underlying them.” All these sectors should be incorporated in the implementation of sustainable development goals and strategies for present and future generations. And I strongly believe that the gradual transition away from neoliberalism would deter the region’s sustainability efforts. This is because in its theory it suggests that the governments reduce arrears, maximize subsidies, improve tax law to make wider the tax base, get rid of fixed exchange rates, open up markets to trade by preventive protectionism, privatize the state-owned businesses, permit private possessions and back deregulation. More private companies will come up that uses methods that are not environmental friendly, more emissions will be witnessed that will eventually pollute the atmosphere, clean sources of drinking waters for both human beings as well as domestic and aquatic animals will be contaminated leading to deaths and more deterioration of environment that can never benefit the present and the future generation as well. Read More