Environmental quality and equity in the Human Development Index: an integrated index for the Local Agenda 21 case study

Abstract

Although the Human Development Index (HDI) allows for a more accurate measurement of the real achievements of growth than the gross domestic product, it does not include other necessary variables for human development, such as economic inequality and growth environmental costs. An integrated HDI was developed which included environmental quality and equity as variables, along with income, life expectancy and education. The integrated HDI was applied in the 169 coastal municipalities of Mexico and the results were always lower than the official HDI calculated for the same year. We compared the relationship between the HDI and the integrated HDI with the distribution models of Local Agenda 21 (LA21), which was different for most of the municipalities. Lastly, the components of the integrated HDI for building scenarios were reviewed, prevailing subjects regarding education, health, environmental quality and equity, in order to propose strategies for the development of public policies for the LA21.

Keywords: HDI, sustainability, Gini coefficient, coastal municipalities, Mexico, public policy