Lesson 1: Summary
- Economic growth and development are defined by different scholars in different ways.
- Economic growth is an increase in goods and services or growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) in a nation over a specific period.
- Economic development on the other hand refers to the sustained development of the material well-being of society.
Geographical determinism assumes that the stage of socio-economic development of countries is exclusively determined by the geographic environment
The school of possibilism argues that geographic environment is not the only determinant factor of the lifestyle of people and socio-economic development.
Three theories each focusing on the three discrete activities and questioning ‘what economic activities are located, where and why are discussed.
Effect of location on agricultural development
- The German theorist, Johann Heinrich von Thünen developed his agricultural land use theory in 1826 in his book The Isolated State.
The influence of location on industrial development
- The German economist, Alfred Weber Alfred Weber was a professor of economics at the Heidelberg University, Germany (from 1907 to 1933); developed the least cost industrial location model in his book titled Theory of the Location of Industries.
Effect of location on settlement and service center development
Walter Christaller was a German geographer who wrote a groundbreaking theory titled ‘Central Places in Southern Germany’ in 1933.