DEFINING DEVELOPMENT, DEVELOPMENT PARADIGMS AND DEVELOPMENT INGREDIENTS
4.1 Development defined
In general terms, “development” means an “event constituting a new stage in a changing situation”2 or the process of change per se. If not qualified, “development” is implicitly intended as something positive or desirable. When referring to a society or to a socio-economic system, “development” usually means improvement, either in the general situation of the system, or in some of its constituent elements. Development may occur due to some deliberate action carried out by single agents or by some authority pre-ordered to achieve improvement, to favourable circumstances in both. Development policies and private investment, in all their forms, are examples of such actions.
Given this broad definition, “development” is a multi-dimensional concept in its nature, because any improvement of complex systems, as indeed actual socio-economic systems are, can occur in different parts or ways, at different speeds and driven by different forces. Additionally, the development of one part of the system may be detrimental to the development of other parts, giving rise to conflicting objectives (trade-offs) and conflicts. Consequently, measuring development, i.e. determining whether and to what extent a system is developing, is an intrinsically multidimensional exercise.