Take a cursory glance around Port of Spain and the Government’s drive toward Vision 20/20 is evident.

From the glossy new buildings and the beautiful dock-side walkways, it looks like the country is on its way to a shiny future.

But according to a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report, despite the latest construction boom, Trinidad and Tobago has dropped five places- from 59 last year to 64 in 2009- in the High Human Development category of the report.

Each year, since its 1990 inception, the Human Development Report has published the human development index (HDI) which looks beyond GDP to a broader definition of well-being.

The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity (PPP) and income).

Between 1980 and 2007 Trinidad and Tobago’s HDI rose by 0.19 per cent annually from 0.794 to 0.837 today.

HDI scores in all regions have increased progressively over the years, although all have experienced periods of slower growth or even reversals.

This year’s HDI, which refers to 2007, highlights the very large gaps in well-being and life chances that continue to divide our increasingly interconnected world.

The HDI for Trinidad and Tobago is 0.837, which gives the country a rank of 64 out of 182 countries. According to the UNDP, the index is not in any sense a comprehensive measure of human development.

It does not, for example, include important indicators such as gender or income inequality nor more difficult to measure concepts like respect for human rights and political freedoms.

What it does provide is a broadened prism for viewing human progress and the complex relationship between income and well-being.

The HDI measures the average progress of a country in human development.

The Human Poverty Index (HPI-1), focuses on the proportion of people below certain threshold levels in each of the dimensions of the human development index - living a long and healthy life, having access to education, and a decent standard of living.

By looking beyond income deprivation, the HPI-1 represents a multidimensional alternative to the $1.25 a day (PPP US$) poverty measure.

The HPI-1 value of 6.4 per cent for Trinidad and Tobago, ranks 27th among 135 countries for which the index has been calculated.

The HPI-1 measures severe deprivation in health by the proportion of people who are not expected to survive to age 40.

Education is measured by the adult illiteracy rate.

A decent standard of living is measured by the unweighted average of people not using an improved water source and the proportion of children under age five who are underweight for their age.

According to the UN, Human Development is a development paradigm that is about much more than the rise or fall of national incomes or Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

It is about creating an environment in which people can develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interests.

People are the real wealth of nations.

The UNDP report measures development as the expansion of choices people have to lead their daily lives. It is therefore about much more than economic growth.

A countries ability to build and improve human capabilities is also fundamental to the criteria of the report.

The most basic capabilities for human development are to lead long and healthy lives, to be knowledgeable, to have access to the resources needed for a decent standard of living and to be able to participate in the life of the community.

Without these, many choices are simply not available, and many opportunities in life remain inaccessible, the UNDP says.