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Mike Jenks
Developing countries—similarities and differences
In the face of such overwhelming statistics about developing countries, there is a
danger of assuming that the problems may be much the same across different
countries. There is also a danger of assuming that widely held tenets of urban
planning, the signs and symbols of globalisation, or the images of modernism,
mean that difference between regions and cultures is narrowing to insignificance
(e.g. Gilbert and Gugler, 1992).
There is a danger inherent in categorising the world into developed and
developing countries; there are many similar characteristics, as well as significant
differences, in cities across this divide. It is recognised that the division is an
oversimplification; nevertheless, it is useful, and there is a reasonable basis for it.
This book follows the definition of developed countries as the 35 marketorientated
countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD). Developing countries are the world’s remaining 172,
generally with a per capita GNP of below US$5,000, and which account for 70% of
the world’s population (Crump and Ellwood, 1998). However, there are
exceptions; in this book South Africa, an OECD member, is included as a
developing country, largely because of its low GNP and the characteristics of its
cities.
There are clear differences between many of the countries featured, from the
poor to the very rich. The poor countries, with a per capita GNP of less than
US$1,500, include Bangladesh (the poorest, with US$260), China, Egypt and
India. There is a middle range of countries, with a per capita GNP of US$1,500–
5,000, including Brazil, Colombia, Chile, South Africa, Thailand and Venezuela.
The richer or very rich countries include Argentina (US$8,380) and Taiwan, and at
the extreme Hong Kong and Singapore with per capita GNP similar to the US
(Instituto del Tercer Mundo, 1999; Newman and Kenworthy, 2000). There are also
variations in the overall sustainability of these countries when their ecological
footprint is considered (e.g. Wackernagel et al., 1997).
Thus, while there are many general similarities and differences between
countries, there are also specific cultural and physical differences that need to be
borne in mind. The studies presented in this book go from the densest of urban
development (Hong Kong) to the lowest density of urban forms in developing
countries (South Africa). The cities include those with strong economies that
enable investment in transport infrastructure and property, and those that have
laissez faire controls and a dominance of market forces at one end of the spectrum.
And at the other end, those cities where the informal sector is dominant, social
segregation and inequalities are significant, and where self-help may be the best
way to get housed. The evidence also ranges in scale from the urban metropolitan
regions down to the level of the household. Despite this wide range, a number of
common themes emerge, as well as distinct differences.
The structure of the book
The breadth of the debate, theories and policies, and some of the key components
that affect sustainable urban form in developing countries are addressed in the
four parts of the book.
The first part provides a global overview of the compact city debate, the impact
of globalisation, and the need to consider the metropolitan region. Some of the
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