Perspectives on Development

For so long we have divided the world into the developed and developing, the ones with and those without. We have this view of development as a ladder states need to climb, that there is a road which all states must walk to reach that ever-sought-after title of being a “developed nation”.

We measure this along economic performance, political systems, and social aspects, but nowhere do we measure this more than along the technological axis. This is the thought that occupies my mind as I walk along the streets of Los Angeles. Yet in the end, I am always left with the same question: what does development actually look like?

The sun is setting slowly over the beige buildings framing the busy road. Around me, the air is filled with dust, smoke, and the faint smell of garbage from an overflowing trash can. My eyes follow the cracks in the sidewalk – trees forcing their way up through the concrete – all the way until my eyes reach the abrupt end of my path, leading me straight out into traffic.

A cold breeze makes me hug my jacket tighter around my body as I clutch the pepper spray in my hand, keeping a watchful eye over my shoulder as I walk through the peaceful neighborhood. Houses, crammed so close it almost seems like they might fuse together. Across the sky I see electric wires stretch like a spiderweb from house to house, to the flickering street lamps that almost cover up the few stars that twinkle between the webs.

Everywhere I look I see aging houses, trash filling the side of the roads, and crumbling infrastructure. Only the cars convey the real status of this city – this capital of fame.

All around me, I hear the roar of sports cars, and see the blinding shine of brand-new Teslas, and it’s almost enough to distract me from the slick Audi’s reckless maneuvers to get ahead in traffic. It’s a stark contrast to the buildings next to me, which seem like they might fall apart at even the slightest tremor – unfortunate, as Los Angeles is indeed prone to regular such tremors.

I turn a corner and am suddenly faced with a sea of clothes, blankets, and shopping carts, framing a temporary neighborhood of tents set up along the highway. It’s a sight of the fallout of a failing system, highlighted even more by the contrast of luxury cars driving next to crumbling infrastructure. And it leaves me thinking if this is what “developed” looks like, what is the real difference between this and the developing world?

What is it that sets this image – a picture that fits just as well into Kazakhstan or South Africa – apart from those places that are considered less developed than the U.S.? Is it the political system that fails to maintain the necessary infrastructure? The social system that fails to protect its most vulnerable citizens? Or is it – as I suspect – the displays of wealth roaring across the cracked freeway, playing fast and loose with what might constitute legal driving?

This theatre before me reminds me of scenes from around the developed world, from the cracked sidewalks of Vienna to the dark alleyways of Paris, from the “million-program” of Sweden to the gated communities of Greece. All around us, we see the flaws of our developed societies, cracks in our image.

Even here, in the city of angels, the height of fame and disposable income, we never need to look far to come across a scene that might as well have been taken from the poorest neighborhoods of Istanbul. It is a theatre of pretend – development – being played out in an attempt to show off something that is not really there.

This theatre is perfectly embodied by the display of technological advancement driving around the city in the form of driverless Waymo cars and those new blocky Teslas that look like they came right out of a cartoon. It is the city equivalent of social media, showing the world how developed you are through the advancement of technology which only really serves an entertainment purpose, but in the end, it is all a façade. In the end, the developed world is no different than the developing, it just hides it better – distracting us with technological bling and shiny toys.

I take a deep breath in – filling my lungs with the cool night air – feeling as the chemicals and harmful particles of the city take a year of my life. The soft light flickers beside me as I continue my walk back to campus, letting my mind drift away from the perspectives on development, instead distracting myself with how I will get to the store tomorrow to buy food. Only ten short minutes by car, but a god-damn hour by bus… and I must walk half that, because the bus does not stop anywhere near the dorms! The night envelopes me, shrouding my annoyance in darkness, and I continue on, along the broken sidewalk of development.