Population, territory and sustainable development

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Chapter II
CONCEPTS, DEFINITIONS AND INTERLINKAGES
This document focuses on the three concepts mentioned in the title: population, territory and sustainable
development. These concepts are complex and have multiple meanings. Defining them first thus serves
two purposes: theoretical delimitation and semantic accuracy.
The concept of population used in this report easily goes beyond the five meanings 1 given in the
Concise Oxford English Dictionary, which generally refer to the collective inhabitants of a particular
place. For demographers and experts on the links between population and development, the term
“population” refers to the number, growth, structure and spatial distribution of persons and the
demographic variables determining those factors (fertility, mortality and migration). For the purposes
hereof, however, the concept needs to be restricted. The definition of population used in this report refers
to the spatial distribution and territorial mobility 2 of people. It also takes into account population size,
growth and structure, but essentially in order to describe and compare subnational areas. Mortality and
fertility may also be discussed, but as variables determining demographic trends in subnational areas,
rather than as detailed analytical variables per se.
The concept of territory used in this report depends on the concept of population as defined
above. As already indicated, the concept of population refers to spatial distribution and mobility within
countries. As a result, the basic notion of territory used here refers mainly to subnational areas in which
populations live and move around. In some cases, multinational areas are used, either because the
discussion concerns border areas (between two or even three countries) or because the type of link being
analysed goes beyond the national scale (for example, the effects of climate change), or because the
relevant population variable is international migration.
The concept of territory used in this text still needs to be specified further. The dictionary
definitions 3 are useful but insufficient. 4 Although they cover the physical (geographical) and
administrative components, which are essential in any analysis, they do not include the social dimensions,
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The tenth edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines population as follows: (i) all the inhabitants
of a particular place; (ii) a particular group within this; (iii) the action of populating an area; (iv) a community of
interbreeding organisms; and (v) a finite or infinite collection of items under consideration.
In this document, the term “mobility” always refers —unless explicitly indicated otherwise— to the physical
movement of the population in a territory, regardless of the means used. Given that there are many different
types of movement, this report refers systematically only to movements that are regarded as components of
demographic dynamics, specifically internal migration and international migration. Two other types of
movement are also examined, albeit less systematically, given the nature of this document and their importance
for population, territory and sustainable development research and policy purposes. These are seasonal migration
by individuals who move to take up temporary work without changing their place of residence and commuters,
who travel between their place of residence and place of work (or study) on a daily or regular basis.
The tenth edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines territory as: (i) an area under the jurisdiction
of a ruler or state; (ii) an area of knowledge or experience; (iii) an area in which one has certain rights or
responsibilities; (iv) an area defended by an animal against others of the same sex or species and (v) land with a
specified characteristic.
See the detailed review and discussion of the concept of territory in Cuervo (2011), Haesbaert (2011), Ramírez,
Silva and Cuervo (2009) and Cuervo and González (1997).