Volume 3, Number 2 (December 2012)—download Full Issue
Chinese Urbanization:
Efforts to Manage the Rapid Growth of Cities
By Janina Calabro
China has experienced rapid levels of urbanization in recent years. Urbanization has lifted many out of poverty and helped to raise GDP per capita, ultimately bettering the living standards for millions of people in China. Although there are many positive results from recent urbanization, China faces a problem of unsustainability. Urbanization has lead to pollution, income inequality, water scarcity and high levels of energy use. It is questioned whether China can properly deal with these negative side effects while sustaining economic growth and overall prosperity. This article reviews the empirical background of China and discusses positive outcomes as well as negative implications of urbanization. Furthermore, it examines some strides China has already made in managing urban growth. The article comes to the conclusion that China has successfully set up programs and institutions that may potentially lead to economic sustainability, but suggests that these programs must be strengthened to increase their potential.
How the Lack of Access to Safe Water and Sanitation Hampers Growth and Development: The Case of Peru
By Emily Platt
Peru's failure to bring clean water and sanitation to many of the rural parts of the country has hampered its economic development as well as the health and living standards of many of its citizens. Failed policies for distributing and regulating clean water, coupled with a lack of urgency to attend to the rural population, are primarily responsible for keeping many Peruvians poor. The economic advantages of attending to these policy issues far outweigh the costs and provide compelling evidence for Peru's leaders to value the long-term benefits over the short-term costs.
Rural Poverty in Honduras:
Despite Progress, an Ongoing Challenge
By Carlos Andréu
The Republic of Honduras is with approximately 7.7 million inhabitants the second most populated country in Central America. Honduras is also the second poorest country in Central America. Even though poverty affects the country as a whole, Honduras’ poverty is essentially a rural problem. This article analyzes rural poverty in Honduras by first providing some empirical background of Honduras and its economic history. It then analyzes the obstacles that cause this extreme rural poverty and finally it presents possible solutions to reduce rural poverty in Honduras by attacking the problem of rural poverty at its core.
Water in Ethiopia: Drought, Disease and Death
By Morgan Hendrix
For the last thirty years, drought has consistently suffocated the landlocked country of Ethiopia. Several additional factors have made Ethiopia’s water crisis worse. The lack of water and sanitation has created and spread food shortages and famine across the country, forced children to seek clean water over attending school, and water-borne illnesses have claimed many lives. Solutions do exist for Ethiopia and many organizations are willing help Ethiopia. However, if present conditions continue, the only things certain in Ethiopia’s future are drought, disease, and death.
