Population Issues

MEDC’s: Land Reclamation & Drainage Countries, such as Japan and the Netherlands have tried to increase the land available for their growing urban areas by reclaiming land from the sea and draining marsh lands. Cities, such as Kobe in Japan now have large artificial islands that are used for industry, just off their waterfront. In the Netherlands a huge area to the East of Amsterdam has been reclaimed, using long dams to reclaim islands called Polders. Both ideas have been successful in allowing urban growth to continue on previously un-used areas.

MEDC’s: In-Migration Some developed countries have tried to boost their declining populations by encouraging the in-migration of migrant workers into their countries. A very good example is the Turkish "Gasterbeiters" (Guest Workers) who regularly moved into Germany during the 1980's and 1990's. They were encouraged to move in to the country for short periods to fill jobs that were not being taken up by Germans. However this scheme has slowed in recent years as it has begun to cost Germany a lot of money in benefits for Turks who have decided to stay, as well as jobs being lost due to global recession.

LEDC’s: Birth Control The most famous example of a country using a birth control scheme is that of China. As the population sky-rocketed, the government realised that something had to be done otherwise there would be not enough resources to cope. In the 1970's and 1980's agricultural improvements meant that the country became self-sufficient and, most importantly, the country was producing the best balance of nutritious foods. However they also decided to " during the 1980's. This was aimed at slowing the rapid population growth that already taken the population of China over 1 billion.

LEDC’s: Birth Control Couples only having one child gained huge benefits such as free schooling for their child, tax incentives, better pensions, better access to state housing schemes and increased family allowances. All towns and villages had government appointed health workers, who made it their business to know when someonegot pregnant. They would then help them through the pregnancy and put huge pressure on them not to have any more. There are huge social pressures not to have more than one child. In general the scheme is working well in the urban areas, however in rural areas couples are still having large families to allow them to have workers for the farms. There are also reports of abortions and that baby girls have been killed by couples wanting one boy only.

LEDC’s: Irrigation Irrigation schemes have been vital in increasing the agricultural yields of many areas of the developing world. Small-scale schemes that benefit a community or village seem to be the most successful. The larger schemes that involve huge dams and the production of HEP often leave the country with huge debts to pay off, which often means they are even more dependent on MEDC's for help.