for social goods and resources. Others insist on
the need to attain equality of outcome or
results. The parameters of social equality are,
however, uncertain: Are people to attain equal-
ity inresources, material goods, well-being or
capabilities, for example (Gosepath, 2005)?
Equality, particularly social equality, is an
important though rarely articulated principle
that underlies some geographical scholarship,
particularly of a critical orientation (see Smith,
2000a: see alsocritical geography). nkb
equilibrium A state in which the forces mak-
ing for change are in balance. This concept is
central toneo-classical economics, where a
freemarketworking perfectly is supposed to
tend towards a state of equilibrium. If the
forces of supply and demand for all goods
and services and allfactors of production
are balanced in such a way that all supply
is consumed and all demand is met, and no
participant(s) in the economy can derive any
further income or satisfaction from doing any-
thing other than what is presently done, this
would constitute a state of equilibrium which
would be maintained until a change took
place, response to which would eventually
restore equilibrium.
Suppose that, in a perfectly competitive
economy in equilibrium, either the extraction
of coal becomes more difficult or resources are
depleted, and that the coal owners put up the
price of coal so as to meet the rising cost of
mining. As the consumption of coal is to some
extent sensitive to its price, demand for coal is
reduced. The mine owners may then find that
they have coal unsold and reduce its price a
little to get rid of it. Eventually, the balance of
forces of supply and demand will be regained
by these market adjustments, at a point at
which the prevailing price just clears the stocks
of coal supplied. Equilibrium will have been
restored. This process may, of course, involve
bringing back into balance other elements of
the economy disturbed by change in the coal
market; for example, if there is less coal pro-
duced than before, under the new state of
equilibrium this may affect employment in
mining, coal delivery and so on – while if the
new market price is higher, some customers
may substitute other sources of fuel for coal.
In reality, aneconomywill be in a process
of perpetual adjustment to change.
Equilibrium is an ideal state that is never
achieved in practice but is helpful as a concept
in the understanding of a market-regulated
economy (on which, see Plummer and
Sheppard, 2006; Fowler, 2007). A distinction
is sometimes made betweengeneral equilib-
rium, which relates to the entire economy,
andpartial equilibrium, which refers to a single
market or limited set of related activities.
Spatial equilibriumrefers to balance in a spa-
tially disaggregated economy. Change in such a
system can be spatially selective; the rise in the
price of coal may be confined to a specific
region, and restoration of equilibrium involves
change and its repercussions working their way
fromplacetoplaceaswellasfromonemarketto
another. The spatial version of neo-classical
economics suggests the equalization of income
asafeatureofspatialequilibrium,sinceregional
disparities in wages should encourage labour to
move to regions where wages are highest and/or
capitalto move to regions where wages are
lowest until equality is achieved and no advan-
tage is to be obtained from further movement
(seeconvergence, regional). Just as imper-
fection in market mechanisms can frustrate the
achievement of equilibrium in general so, in
geographical space, obstacles to the free mobil-
ity of labour, capital and so on impede adjust-
ment to wage and price differentials.
The concept of spatial equilibrium has been
partly responsible for some misconceptions in
regional development theory and planning
practice. The terms ‘equilibrium’ and ‘bal-
ance’ have desirable connotations, and the
idea of a self-regulatingspace-economytend-
ing towards equalization of incomes encour-
ages a view that market mechanisms are
capable of promoting more even development
if planners somehow harness them to a public
purpose. However, the tendency of market
economies undercapitalismin reality is more
one of concentration and centralization, char-
acterized by uneven development and
inequality of living standards, especially in
the undeveloped world. dmse-social science An approach to social sci-
ence research that takes advantage of powerful
networksof computers sharing resources and
processing power. These are often compared
to electricity grid systems: people generally do
not mind where electricity is being generated;
they just want to use its power. The same
could be true of accessing a computational
grid, be it for quantitative modelling andsimu-
lation, or for morequalitative methods
(such as running online discussion groups).
Origins of grid computing include the Search
for Extraterrestrial Intelligence@Home pro-
ject, whereby signals from outer space are dis-
tributed to PC users to be analysed using spareGregory / The Dictionary of Human Geography 9781405132879_4_E Final Proof page 209 1.4.2009 3:17pmE-SOCIAL SCIENCE