Growing Populations, Changing Landscapes Studies from India, China, and the United States (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-8
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Fertility and mortality rates began to decline in the Western industrialized regions in the nineteenth century (a process called the demographic transition) , but only in the last decades of the twentieth century did some of the developing regions begin to realize significant declines in fertility.
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In general, to meet demands for food farmers must either expand the area of land under cultivation or intensify agricultural practices, which often requires applying large quantities of fertilizer, herbicides, insecticides, and irrigation water and risking their potentially damaging impacts on the environment. Beyond agriculture, other aspects of human consumption, itself a product of increasing population coupled with economic development, may further degrade natural resources and the environment.
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They are: in India, Kerala, a subtropical state in southwest India, and Haryana, a state north of New Delhi; in China, the litai Basin in liangxi Province in southern China and the Pearl River Delta just to the south on the coast; and in the United States, South Florida in the southeastern United States and Chicago and the surrounding region in the American Midwest. Study teams in each region analyzed basic trends in population growth and land use change since World War II and sought to identify drivers of the observed changes.
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Since then, the region has experienced rapid urbanization and industrialization and has become a magnet for migrant and "floating" workers from many parts of China. In the United States, South Florida developed rapidly after 1900; throughout the twentieth century decadal growth rates exceeded 100 percent.
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The city's population peaked in 1950, and the metropolitan region continues to grow as suburbanization encroaches on agricultural land. People initially migrated to the region to exploit the natural resource base, but with the growth of transportation, communication, and financial institutions, employment in the modern era has shifted from the secondary to the tertiary sector, which provides services to both the regional agricultural sector and the global economy.
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Policies in the study regions that have had a major effect on land use change include: price controls on agricultural inputs and outputs, infrastructure support, taxation, privatization, and reforestation programs. Economic policies have been especially important in the Chinese regions and in Kerala; infrastructure support was important in Haryana and South Florida.
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The true drivers of local environmental change must be identified, and policies intended to foster more sustainable development must be carried out in recognition of the larger context. For example, the success of water restoration projects currently proposed for Haryana depends strongly on a shift in Indian national food supply policies.
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