Resetting Our Goals

As explained in Gilbert Rist's article "development as a buzzword", the word 'development' has many different meanings in different contexts. For example, overall Australia is considered a "developed country" in a socioeconomic sense. In terms of the distribution, there are more people in urban settings than rural settings. Rist suggests that although 'development' has been a goal for countries in the past hundred years because it is looked at as a positive thing, or what countries and governments strive for.
However, Rist also makes a good point when he mentions that "A country is the more developed the more limited the number of free things are available" (Rist, 2007). Land isn't free, resources aren't free. For example, I had the opportunity to do some work at a research station at JCU with one of the classes I'm taking. On the island there is no fresh water pumped from the mainland to supply the research station with; the station runs completely off of rain water. In recent months the occurrence of rain has been particularly sparse, and with only 15% of the total water storage capacity, the station will likely have to have freshwater flown in by helicopter. The estimated cost for the water (including the transportation) is about 15,000 AU dollars. Water is just one example of a natural resource that has been developed so much it has become a product even though it's naturally occurring. In this context, the development of water as a product can be viewed as a positive or negative thing. Positive if you are the owner of the resource able to make a profit from the fact that it is a a developed resource, and negative if you are the consumer having to pay for a resource that occurs naturally in the world around us. However, Rist also points out that historically we link a positive emotion to the notion of development even though development can be counterproductive at times and even a hinderance.
Sticking with the research station example, another common use for the word 'development' is in the term 'research and development' or R&D. The purpose of the research station is to study natural systems and use that to help with our overall knowledge of these systems. In this context, it is assumed that the 'development' part of the research and development phrase refers to improvement - a positive connotation.
I agree with Rist on the grounds that the word 'development' has many different meanings depending on the context in which you use it and that in almost all cases, it is linked to an subjective feeling - typically positive.

Resource:
Rist, Gilbert. (2007). Development as a buzzword. Development in Practice. 17:4 (485-491).