Population, territory and sustainable development

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73 Chapter V THE SETTLEMENT OF SPARSELY POPULATED AREAS IN LATIN AMERICA A. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND A glance at the map of Latin America shows a very uneven settlement pattern, with densely populated areas mostly on or near the coasts and huge swathes of sparsely populated areas, both at the heart of South America (the Amazon rainforest, which spans several national borders, and the Chaco region in Paraguay) and in the far south (Patagonia). Throughout the region there are other low-population-density areas that share one defining characteristic: extreme environmental conditions. These include deserts, for example, in the north of Mexico and the Atacama Desert in Chile, rainforest and marshland, such as the Darien Gap which lies across southern Panama and the northern tip of Colombia, and ice fields in the Aysén and Magallanes regions of Chile. Disparities in terms of population density started to even out in the second half of the twentieth century, as shown in maps V.1 and V.2. This did not happen by chance, but was rather the result of economic incentives and deliberate action taken to attract settlers to areas of low population density, which were also mistermed “empty spaces”. This chapter presents a brief account of the process of deliberate settlement of sparsely populated areas. Between 1950 and 1970, public policy in the region typically promoted productive development, territorial, economic and social integration, and demographic consolidation (that is, settlement) of sparsely populated regions. These objectives and policies actually predated those two decades, with “to govern is to populate” 1 and similar philosophies being long established. However, it was Brazil’s decision in the 1950s to change its capital from Rio de Janeiro to an entirely new location, to be built from scratch and named Brasilia, chosen precisely because it was unpopulated, close to the demographic frontier and far from the historical centres of economic, political and social power, that led countries to embark upon initiatives promoting the development and settlement of sparsely populated areas that were considered of strategic value. The idea of settling low-population-density areas, particularly in the Amazon, was already familiar in Brazil, but now it became a pillar of the national construct, first through developmentalist projects, then through nationalist agendas. This objective lost favour both as a subject of political discourse and as a focus of policies and programmes, however, with the return of democracy in the 1980s, as will be discussed later in this chapter. Nevertheless, recent studies show that people, organizations, companies and even the State continue to gravitate towards the Amazon region (see box V.1). 1 The dictum of Juan Bautista Alberdi in the mid-nineteenth century in Argentina was, precisely, “En América, gobernar es poblar” (In America, to govern is to populate), specifically by encouraging immigration from Europe. See Alberdi (n/d).
74 Map V.1 SOUTH AMERICA: POPULATION DENSITY BY MAJOR ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION, 1950 AND 2000 (Number of inhabitants per km 2 ) 1950 2000 Less than 1 inhabitant 1 to 2 inhabitants 2 to 5 inhabitants Source: Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE) - Population Division of ECLAC, Spatial distribution and urbanization in Latin America and the Caribbean (DEPUALC) database, 2009. Note: The boundaries shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations. Map V.2 MESOAMERICA: POPULATION DENSITY BY MAJOR ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION, 1950 AND 2000 (Number of inhabitants per km 2 ) 1950 5 to 50 inhabitants 50 inhabitants or more Fewer than 5 inhabitants 2000 5 to 30 inhabitants 30 to 100 inhabitants 100 to 300 inhabitants 300 inhabitants or more Source: Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE) - Population Division of ECLAC, Spatial distribution and urbanization in Latin America and the Caribbean (DEPUALC) database, 2009. Note: The boundaries shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.
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Alicia Bárcena Executive Secretary
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4 Chapter VII Regional inequalities
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6 Table V.3 Latin America (9 countr
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8 Figure IV.10 Latin America (selec
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10 Map VII.5 Plurinational State of
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12 This document is therefore divid
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15 Chapter II CONCEPTS, DEFINITIONS
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17 which guarantee comparability. C
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19 social inclusion, with improveme
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21 The above description is clearly
Page 25 and 26: 24 Table III.1 LATIN AMERICA AND TH
Page 27 and 28: 26 Table III.3 LATIN AMERICA (19 CO
Page 29 and 30: 28 While the rural population of La
Page 31 and 32: 30 Box IV.1 (concluded) In addition
Page 33 and 34: 32 As a result of the absolute and
Page 35 and 36: 34 The sustained decline in the rur
Page 37 and 38: 36 Country Table IV.2 LATIN AMERICA
Page 39 and 40: 38 Country Table IV.5 LATIN AMERICA
Page 41 and 42: 40 Box IV.3 THE AGEING OF THE RURAL
Page 43 and 44: 42 Rodríguez and Meneses (2011) co
Page 45 and 46: 44 The classification outlined in t
Page 47 and 48: 46 An analysis of the results obtai
Page 49 and 50: 48 Although the inhabitants of some
Page 51 and 52: 50 Non-agricultural employment has
Page 53 and 54: 52 C. PRODUCTION PATTERNS AND THE R
Page 55 and 56: 54 Box IV.5 IMPACTS OF SOYBEAN PROD
Page 57 and 58: 56 A recent study entitled Inserci
Page 59 and 60: 58 Table IV.11 LATIN AMERICA: POOR
Page 61 and 62: 60 Figure IV.7 POVERTY IN RURAL HOU
Page 63 and 64: 62 Box IV.6 (concluded) These and o
Page 65 and 66: 64 combine a number of factors of w
Page 67 and 68: 66 Figure IV.10 LATIN AMERICA (SELE
Page 69 and 70: 68 The data in figure IV.11 also sh
Page 71 and 72: 70 Figure IV.12 LATIN AMERICA: AVER
Page 73: 72 Box IV.8 ADOLESCENT FERTILITY IN
Page 77 and 78: 76 Prime examples of this include t
Page 79 and 80: 78 Table V.2 LATIN AMERICA (9 COUNT
Page 81 and 82: 80 creation of tax-free zones, the
Page 83 and 84: 82 Box V.2 (concluded) State polici
Page 85 and 86: 84 In any case, only once the infor
Page 87 and 88: 86 It is not possible to draw direc
Page 89 and 90: 88 studies was conducted recently b
Page 91 and 92: 90 C. THE POLITICAL CONTEXT AND MOB
Page 94 and 95: 93 Chapter VII REGIONAL INEQUALITIE
Page 96 and 97: 95 Map VII.2 LATIN AMERICA AND THE
Page 98 and 99: 97 Some of these programmes were su
Page 100 and 101: 99 D. TERRITORIAL EQUITY, REGIONAL
Page 102 and 103: 101 Map VII.3 CHILE: CLASSIFICATION
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Page 106 and 107: 105 Figure VII.3 ECUADOR: POVERTY R
Page 108 and 109: 107 However, internal migration can
Page 110 and 111: 109 Table VII.5 LATIN AMERICA (SELE
Page 112 and 113: 111 Table VII.7 PERU (SIERRA DEPART
Page 114 and 115: 113 Lastly, in the case of Ecuador,
Page 116 and 117: 115 Chapter VIII SUSTAINED URBANIZA
Page 118 and 119: 117 This chapter presents the most
Page 120 and 121: 119 Busso, 2009; and ECLAC-UN-HABIT
Page 122 and 123: 121 estimate of the urban populatio
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123 Figure VIII.2 LATIN AMERICA AND
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125 First, the region’s economy i
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127 urbanized; the rural population
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129 rural areas. According to the s
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131 the absence of a strategic visi
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133 The need to design ad hoc inter
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135 settlements with low-income pop
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137 Figure VIII.4 LATIN AMERICA AND
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139 At the same time, decentralizat
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142 The rest of the system of citie
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144 Table IX.1 LATIN AMERICA: NUMBE
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146 First is the demographic scope
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148 Basing the same series on towns
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150 Table IX.2 LATIN AMERICA: PROSP
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152 The data emerging from 2010 cen
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154 City size Table IX.6 LATIN AMER
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156 Figure IX.5 LATIN AMERICA (1,73
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158 For unemployment, the picture i
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160 rate differential among the dif
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162 individuals valued cultural fac
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164 that draw migrants, due precise
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166 Table IX.10 LATIN AMERICA AND T
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169 Chapter X TRENDS, MUTATIONS AND
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171 Table X.2 LATIN AMERICA: EVOLUT
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173 1. Demographic evolution of lar
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175 As table X.4 shows, during the
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177 comparison. But the most convin
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179 in recent years, which are desc
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181 Map X.2 MEXICO: INTERCENSAL GRO
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183 irregular settlements known as
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185 The third argument is based on
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187 Map X.4 MEXICO CITY: EXTENDED M
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189 more general social inequalitie
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191 5. Concluding remarks: the grea
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194 In view of lower internal migra
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196 familiarity with surroundings a
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198 connections; (ii) identify the
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200 The report casts light on an is
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202 Box XI.3 PROTECTING THE ECOSYST
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204 In view of the above, the prima
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206 overlap of functions and alloca
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208 Many of the programmes develope
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210 A breakdown of net migration by
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212 Box XI.8 (concluded) Case studi
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215 Bibliography Abba, Artemio Pedr
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217 Cecchini, S. and A. Madariaga (
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219 (2010a), Time for equality: clo
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221 Hiebert, Daniel and David Ley (
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223 Pendall, R., R. Puentes and J.
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225 Rodríguez, J. and M. Villa (19
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