Topic 2: 2.3 Approaches to development vary in type and success — Edexcel GCSE Geography B
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Topic 2: 2.3 Approaches to development vary in type and success explained
Topic 2: 2.3 Approaches to development vary in type and success covers 2 specification points, including A.
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Characteristics of top-down and bottom-up… and Non-governmental organisation-led (NGO-led)…. Open a point below for its explanation and revision guidance.
a. Characteristics of top-down and bottom-up strategies in terms of their scale, aims, funding and technology. The processes and players (transnational corporations (TNCs), governments) contributing to globalisation and why some countries have benefitted more than others.
This criterion asks you to compare top-down and bottom-up strategies by scale, aims, funding and technology. Top-down schemes are national or international, aim at economic growth and use high technology with government or lender funding, as with China's Special Economic Zones. Bottom-up schemes are small, community-led, aim at local needs and use appropriate technology with NGO or local funding, as with Bangladesh's Grameen Bank microcredit. You must also explain globalisation as a process driven by players. TNCs invest and relocate production, while governments set trade rules. Explain why some countries benefit more, using factors such as stable government, skilled labour and infrastructure.
b. Advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to development: Non-governmental organisation-led (NGO-led) intermediate technology, Inter-governmental organisation (IGO)-funded large infrastructure and investment by TNCs.
Learn each approach's features, then weigh its advantages against its disadvantages. NGO-led intermediate technology uses simple, low-cost, locally maintained tools such as hand pumps. Advantages: affordable and community-owned. Disadvantages: small scale and dependent on donations. IGO-funded large infrastructure, such as dams or road networks, improves energy and connectivity, but costs are high, debt may rise and people may be displaced. TNC investment brings capital, jobs and exports, yet profits may leave the country, wages can be low and local firms may struggle. Judge success using evidence such as jobs, services and environmental impact, not opinion alone.
Your focus
- Compare top-down and bottom-up strategies by scale, aims, funding and technology.
- Explain how TNCs and governments contribute to globalisation.
- Explain why some countries have benefited more from globalisation than others, using a named example.
Show all 6 objectives
- Define NGO-led intermediate technology, IGO-funded large infrastructure and TNC investment accurately.
- Identify at least one advantage and one disadvantage of each development approach.
- Judge which approach may be most successful in a given context using relevant evidence.
Topic 2: 2.3 Approaches to development vary in type and success exam tips
Marking Points
- Compares top-down and bottom-up strategies across scale, aims, funding and technology in the same answer.
- Gives a named top-down example, such as China's Special Economic Zones, and explains its government or international backing.
- Gives a named bottom-up example, such as Grameen Bank microcredit, and explains its community focus.
- Explains that TNCs invest and relocate production, shaping which countries gain from globalisation.
- Explains that governments set trade rules, tariffs and investment conditions that affect which countries benefit.
- Explains why some countries benefit more, using factors such as stable government, skilled labour and infrastructure.
- Defines NGO-led intermediate technology as low-cost, simple and locally maintained, with an example such as hand pumps.
- Explains one advantage of NGO-led projects, such as community ownership, and one disadvantage, such as reliance on donations.
- Explains that IGO-funded large infrastructure can improve energy supply or connectivity, and identifies a cost such as debt or displacement.
- Explains that TNC investment can create jobs and export earnings, and that profits may leave the country.
- Weighs advantages against disadvantages for each approach rather than listing one side only.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Organise the answer by the four named features, so each paragraph compares top-down and bottom-up on one feature.
- 💡Support every claim about globalisation with a named player and a specific action, such as investment or trade rules.
- 💡Finish by explaining one reason why some countries benefit more, linked to a case you have studied.
- 💡Before answering, write one advantage and one disadvantage for each approach in rough notes.
- 💡When choosing between options, check that the option names the specific approach given in the statement.
- 💡Support each claim with a relevant example of a project type, so your evaluation is specific rather than general.
Common Mistakes
- Treats bottom-up strategies as always successful, rather than explaining their limits such as small scale and limited funding.
- Describes globalisation as a single process without naming TNCs or governments as its players.
- Lists the characteristics of each strategy without linking them to a named example from the course.
- Treats all NGOs as government bodies; correct this by recognising NGOs as non-governmental, voluntary or charitable organisations.
- Confuses IGOs with NGOs; correct this by identifying IGOs as organisations made up of governments, such as the World Bank.
- Describes TNC investment as wholly positive; correct this by including disadvantages such as profit repatriation or low wages.
- Lists features of each approach without judging success; correct this by linking each approach to evidence of outcomes.