Geography and Human Development

The 2012 Philippine Human Development Report with the theme Geography and Human Development is the 7th in the series of Reports which began in 1994. It focuses on geography as a deep determinant of human development and examines how it is linked to human development outcomes across provinces.

The Philippine Human Development Report 2012/2013 discusses the crucial role of place and space in human development. The crux of the issue is suggested in the epigraph from Rizal: some are fortunate enough to be helped and made happy by their place of stay—indeed, they may even have the luxury of choosing it. Others, on the other hand, are simply condemned by their circumstances to endure it. Part i of the Report demonstrates how the Philippines’ diverse, fragmented, and hazard-prone geography poses huge challenges to human development. Distance, land form, climate, and natural hazards are significant obstacles to people’s access to health, to education, and their ability to obtain a sustainable and productive living. Besides natural factors, economic growth itself is a process that by its nature creates geographic unevenness and inequality, even while existing social and political barriers can frustrate people’s efforts to better their own lot.