Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
One of the principal goals of spatial or regional policy over the years has been
the reduction of inequalities between regions. Great inequality is undesirable
because of the frictions or tensions created between different social or regional
groups; but action to reduce inequity is usually at the expense of efficiency. For
example, if the efficient level of steel production in a country is with two very
large mills located near major markets, it is inefficient to have four smaller mills,
some of which are at a distance from their main markets. But this was the
regional policy adopted in Britain for the nationalized steel industry of the
1950s. Equity versus efficiency is thus a real question in the context of this kind
of regional policy. Alternative regional policies might ignore equity or ignore
efficiency.
That there can be other goals may be briefly summarized. One such goal is
now seen as sustainability, the pursuit of policies that maintain resource levels for
the future. Another, not normally stated directly, is the policy of some states,
such as those of Latin America in recent decades, to achieve development of
peripheral regions for the sake of geopolitical goals. This has been the case in
large countries with thinly peopled borders, such as Brazil.
