Population, territory and sustainable development
The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of current trends, contexts and issues in the spheres of population, territory and sustainable development and examine their public policy implications. Three themes run through the report. The first two are laid out in the empirical chapters (III through X); the third is taken up in the closing chapter. Using the most recent data available (including censuses conducted in the 2010s), the first theme describes and tracks location and spatial mobility patterns for the population of Latin America, focusing on certain kinds of territory. The second explores the linkages between these patterns and sustainable development in different kinds of territory in Latin America and the Caribbean. The third offers considerations and policy proposals for fostering a consistent, synergistic relationship between population location and spatial mobility, on the one hand, and sustainable development, on the other, in the kinds of territory studied.
The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of current trends, contexts and issues in the spheres of population, territory and sustainable development and examine their public policy implications. Three themes run through the report. The first two are laid out in the empirical chapters (III through X); the third is taken up in the closing chapter. Using the most recent data available (including censuses conducted in the 2010s), the first theme describes and tracks location and spatial mobility patterns for the population of Latin America, focusing on certain kinds of territory. The second explores the linkages between these patterns and sustainable development in different kinds of territory in Latin America and the Caribbean. The third offers considerations and policy proposals for fostering a consistent, synergistic relationship between population location and spatial mobility, on the one hand, and sustainable development, on the other, in the kinds of territory studied.
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<strong>and</strong> proper sanitation impedes access to a range of other rights —such as the right to a healthy<br />
environment, health <strong>and</strong> proper food— which are directly or indirectly related to water <strong>and</strong> sanitation<br />
(Hopenhayn <strong>and</strong> Espíndola, 2007). Lack of access to quality basic services <strong>and</strong> a safe environment that<br />
protects health <strong>and</strong> stimulates the full <strong>development</strong> of capacities translates into social disadvantages for<br />
the whole family group. If there are children in the household, for example, they are at higher risk of<br />
infectious <strong>and</strong> diarrhoeic diseases <strong>and</strong> early mortality.<br />
2. Access to <strong>and</strong> use of information <strong>and</strong> communications technologies<br />
A recent study (ECLAC/FAO/IICA, 2011) argues that “information <strong>and</strong> communication technologies<br />
(ICTs) are fundamental for achieving the goals of productivity, sustainability <strong>and</strong> transparency.<br />
Moreover, they have proven effective in securing the social inclusion of rural people. When access to<br />
these technologies is either lacking or unreliable, entire regions or generations can be excluded <strong>and</strong> cut off<br />
from opportunities for more rapid <strong>and</strong> inclusive <strong>development</strong>.” It is therefore germane to enquire into<br />
<strong>development</strong>s regarding ICTs in rural areas. Figure IV.11 shows the proportion of the population with a<br />
fixed telephone line in the household <strong>and</strong> with access to Internet in rural <strong>and</strong> urban areas, <strong>and</strong> rural-urban<br />
asymmetries do in fact occur to differing extents in the countries. The largest differences in relation to<br />
fixed telephone lines are seen in Paraguay, where access in urban households is almost 13.8 times higher<br />
than in rural households. The next largest gap is in Brazil (7.8 times), Mexico (7.7 times), Ecuador<br />
(6.4 times), Chile (6.4 times) <strong>and</strong> the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (6.1 times). A study by González<br />
<strong>and</strong> Ortiz (2011) on access to ICTs in the region also found that rural-urban gaps in mobile telephony are<br />
smaller than in fixed telephony. The largest difference in this respect occurs in Panama, where possession<br />
of mobile telephones by urban households is only 4.8 times higher than by rural households, far less than<br />
the differences seen in access to fixed lines. The differences in the other countries are smaller <strong>and</strong> these<br />
data clearly show a high rate of penetration of mobile telephony in rural households.<br />
Figure IV.11<br />
LATIN AMERICA: PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION WITH ACCESS TO A FIXED TELEPHONE<br />
LINE AND INTERNET IN THE HOUSEHOLD, URBAN AND RURAL AREAS, 2000 CENSUS ROUND<br />
(Percentages)<br />
A. Fixed telephone in the household B. Internet access in the household<br />
100<br />
14<br />
90<br />
80<br />
70<br />
12<br />
10<br />
60<br />
50<br />
40<br />
8<br />
6<br />
30<br />
4<br />
20<br />
10<br />
2<br />
0<br />
0<br />
Argentina<br />
Bolivia<br />
(Plur. State of)<br />
Brazil<br />
Chile<br />
Costa Rica<br />
Ecuador<br />
Panama<br />
Paraguay<br />
Peru<br />
Dominican Rep.<br />
Venezuela<br />
(Bol. Rep. of)<br />
Argentina<br />
Chile<br />
El Salvador<br />
Nicaragua<br />
Paraguay<br />
Dominican Rep.<br />
Venezuela<br />
(Bol. Rep. of)<br />
Urban<br />
Rural<br />
Source: Latin American <strong>and</strong> Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE) - <strong>Population</strong> Division of ECLAC, on the basis of<br />
information from Spatial distribution <strong>and</strong> urbanization in Latin America <strong>and</strong> the Caribbean (DEPUALC) database, 2009.