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Developing economies and the environment. The southeast Asian experience
Book reviews
16 1
The bulk of the research for, and writing of, Europe and world energy was carried on in 1975 and 1976 at Sussex University’s European Research Centre, with the aid of a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. The result is a scholarly, carefully researched, well-organized, clearly written and stimulating book which should form part of the library of any individual or organization having a serious interest in the political economy or economic geography of European energy supplies. P. R. Mounfield Department of Geography, University of Leicester MacAndrews, C. and Chia Lin Sien (eds) Developing economies and the environment. The Southeast Asian Experience. Singapore: McGraw-Hill International, 1979. 299 pp. Publications on broad environmental issues and on the environmental consequences of economic development in the Third World are not rare. There are, however, few good ones. This book is perhaps one of the exceptions in that the editors have clearly realized the inherent difficulties of their task and have set out to illustrate the environment/ development/Third World problem in a highly selective manner. They have been selective both in terms of area and topic. They have been circumspect in the type of issue that can be adequately treated at a level which has some meaning and value, beyond the level of the gross generalization we have become accustomed to in many publications in the environmental studies/resource management field. In the first section of the book the editors clearly state their problem and their objectives. Their material is selected from the ASEAN nations-Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines, which together make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The editors outline many interrelated issues to be addressed-both rural and urban problems, relative development, and the consequences of the rapid economic expansion of the 195Os, 1960s and 1970s as it affected the urbanization processes and generated many new environmental pollution problems. An underlying, recurrent theme is a questioning of the direction and consequences of ‘progress’. Although the individual contributions reflect the current situation in the five ASEAN countries, the problems are common to developing nations generally. Yet it must be recognized that these five ASEAN countries represent the more ‘developed’ end of the ‘developing world’ spectrum and contrast sharply with their Southeast Asian neighbours, for example Burma, Vietnam, Kampuchea, in terms of their relative degree of environmental awareness and resource development. Effective environmental management emerges as a most critical problem for sustained development. But one could become increasingly sceptical of even trying to address such a wide range of issues and subsuming these under one all-embracing title, when the solutions to the problems require such a wide range of diverse and specialized skills. There are four questions that the editors raise and which they feel must be answered ultimately for the developing world. These questions are: what is the most appropriate environmental management strategy for a given country? how stringently should environmental measures be enforced? how many basic data are required to make decisions on particular environmental issues? and what is the role of the public in environmental decision making? The reader will find in the various contributions some response to these questions. They are not always directly addressed or answered but the reader will gain an appreciation of how these issues are viewed and how far the existing data or legislative infrastructure satisfy the requirements. Following the introduction are two chapters which consider environmental policy and law in the region. The first, by Shane, looks at the whole of Southeast Asia, with emphasis
162
Book reviews
on the situation in Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. As a lawyer, Shane is concerned with the constitutional basis of environmental law as it affects particular topics-pollution control, land-use control, etc. Chapter 3, by Hamzah, discusses a range of environmental problems in Malaysia-including water pollution and air pollution-and follows up with an overview of the pertinent federal and state legislation in Malaysia. Part III of the book, again consisting of two chapters, deals with the natural environment-somewhat out of normal sequence but not necessarily out of place. Furtados’ chapter on the status and future of the forests of Southeast Asia must stand as one of the most comprehensive and succinct essays covering the nature of the rainforest environment, leading into a discussion of the nature and consequences of development and environmental impacts on this biome. This chapter is supported by 132 footnotes providing a tremendously useful bibliography of the subject. The following chapter, by Hanson and Koesoebiono, describes the background to the development of the coastal swamplands of Sumatra which are being developed to cope with the exploding population of Java. The land-use development and land allocation procedure is described and provides a good example of the assessment, and use, of ecological data in land-use planning. Part IV covers aspects of the socio-economic environment. Pescod looks at environmental management in the rural areas of Thailand largely through the use of environmental impact assessment. This is perhaps the only chapter which appears out of place in dealing with natural resources rather than the socio-economic baseline data required for environmental management. Chia’s chapter on Singapore deals much more effectively with the socio-economic aspects of urban environment management, viewed in the context of Singapore’s growth, by discussing urban planning, specific urban masterplans, new town and open space development, and related environmental legislation. The final section includes two illustrations of management-pollution control in the Philippines (Lesaca) and industrial health problems in Singapore (Chew). This book, therefore, provides a highly selective, yet representative range of topics covering aspects of environmental management in a part of Southeast Asia. The papers are of a uniformly high standard. The text appears to have been economically produced, well edited, if sparsely illustrated. Extensive bibliographies are included as footnotes within each chapter and there is a comprehensive index. It is not a textbook but has something of interest, and will provide valuable source material and reference information, for a wide range of potential users. Other volumes to be published in this series (McGraw-Hill Southeast Asia Series) are expected to address more fully some specific themes and problems raised here. Michael R. Moss
Department of Geography, University of Guelph, Ontario Zachariah, K. and Conde, J. Migration in West Africa. Oxford: Press/World Bank, 1981. 130 pp. f10.50 hardback.
Oxford
University
Population movements are an all-pervasive aspect of life in West Africa. Zachariah and Conde’s new volume on population migration in this area wisely attempts a selective analysis of the topic, concentrating on the demographic role of migration in the 1960s and 197Os, and leaving to others the difficult task of researching the economic, social and political consequences of population movements. The authors’ self-appointed goal is to provide a comparative analysis of the volume and direction of migration at international and inter-regional scales as revealed by the most recent national censuses of The Gambia,
16 1
The bulk of the research for, and writing of, Europe and world energy was carried on in 1975 and 1976 at Sussex University’s European Research Centre, with the aid of a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. The result is a scholarly, carefully researched, well-organized, clearly written and stimulating book which should form part of the library of any individual or organization having a serious interest in the political economy or economic geography of European energy supplies. P. R. Mounfield Department of Geography, University of Leicester MacAndrews, C. and Chia Lin Sien (eds) Developing economies and the environment. The Southeast Asian Experience. Singapore: McGraw-Hill International, 1979. 299 pp. Publications on broad environmental issues and on the environmental consequences of economic development in the Third World are not rare. There are, however, few good ones. This book is perhaps one of the exceptions in that the editors have clearly realized the inherent difficulties of their task and have set out to illustrate the environment/ development/Third World problem in a highly selective manner. They have been selective both in terms of area and topic. They have been circumspect in the type of issue that can be adequately treated at a level which has some meaning and value, beyond the level of the gross generalization we have become accustomed to in many publications in the environmental studies/resource management field. In the first section of the book the editors clearly state their problem and their objectives. Their material is selected from the ASEAN nations-Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines, which together make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The editors outline many interrelated issues to be addressed-both rural and urban problems, relative development, and the consequences of the rapid economic expansion of the 195Os, 1960s and 1970s as it affected the urbanization processes and generated many new environmental pollution problems. An underlying, recurrent theme is a questioning of the direction and consequences of ‘progress’. Although the individual contributions reflect the current situation in the five ASEAN countries, the problems are common to developing nations generally. Yet it must be recognized that these five ASEAN countries represent the more ‘developed’ end of the ‘developing world’ spectrum and contrast sharply with their Southeast Asian neighbours, for example Burma, Vietnam, Kampuchea, in terms of their relative degree of environmental awareness and resource development. Effective environmental management emerges as a most critical problem for sustained development. But one could become increasingly sceptical of even trying to address such a wide range of issues and subsuming these under one all-embracing title, when the solutions to the problems require such a wide range of diverse and specialized skills. There are four questions that the editors raise and which they feel must be answered ultimately for the developing world. These questions are: what is the most appropriate environmental management strategy for a given country? how stringently should environmental measures be enforced? how many basic data are required to make decisions on particular environmental issues? and what is the role of the public in environmental decision making? The reader will find in the various contributions some response to these questions. They are not always directly addressed or answered but the reader will gain an appreciation of how these issues are viewed and how far the existing data or legislative infrastructure satisfy the requirements. Following the introduction are two chapters which consider environmental policy and law in the region. The first, by Shane, looks at the whole of Southeast Asia, with emphasis
162
Book reviews
on the situation in Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. As a lawyer, Shane is concerned with the constitutional basis of environmental law as it affects particular topics-pollution control, land-use control, etc. Chapter 3, by Hamzah, discusses a range of environmental problems in Malaysia-including water pollution and air pollution-and follows up with an overview of the pertinent federal and state legislation in Malaysia. Part III of the book, again consisting of two chapters, deals with the natural environment-somewhat out of normal sequence but not necessarily out of place. Furtados’ chapter on the status and future of the forests of Southeast Asia must stand as one of the most comprehensive and succinct essays covering the nature of the rainforest environment, leading into a discussion of the nature and consequences of development and environmental impacts on this biome. This chapter is supported by 132 footnotes providing a tremendously useful bibliography of the subject. The following chapter, by Hanson and Koesoebiono, describes the background to the development of the coastal swamplands of Sumatra which are being developed to cope with the exploding population of Java. The land-use development and land allocation procedure is described and provides a good example of the assessment, and use, of ecological data in land-use planning. Part IV covers aspects of the socio-economic environment. Pescod looks at environmental management in the rural areas of Thailand largely through the use of environmental impact assessment. This is perhaps the only chapter which appears out of place in dealing with natural resources rather than the socio-economic baseline data required for environmental management. Chia’s chapter on Singapore deals much more effectively with the socio-economic aspects of urban environment management, viewed in the context of Singapore’s growth, by discussing urban planning, specific urban masterplans, new town and open space development, and related environmental legislation. The final section includes two illustrations of management-pollution control in the Philippines (Lesaca) and industrial health problems in Singapore (Chew). This book, therefore, provides a highly selective, yet representative range of topics covering aspects of environmental management in a part of Southeast Asia. The papers are of a uniformly high standard. The text appears to have been economically produced, well edited, if sparsely illustrated. Extensive bibliographies are included as footnotes within each chapter and there is a comprehensive index. It is not a textbook but has something of interest, and will provide valuable source material and reference information, for a wide range of potential users. Other volumes to be published in this series (McGraw-Hill Southeast Asia Series) are expected to address more fully some specific themes and problems raised here. Michael R. Moss
Department of Geography, University of Guelph, Ontario Zachariah, K. and Conde, J. Migration in West Africa. Oxford: Press/World Bank, 1981. 130 pp. f10.50 hardback.
Oxford
University
Population movements are an all-pervasive aspect of life in West Africa. Zachariah and Conde’s new volume on population migration in this area wisely attempts a selective analysis of the topic, concentrating on the demographic role of migration in the 1960s and 197Os, and leaving to others the difficult task of researching the economic, social and political consequences of population movements. The authors’ self-appointed goal is to provide a comparative analysis of the volume and direction of migration at international and inter-regional scales as revealed by the most recent national censuses of The Gambia,