O estabelecimento da rede e do urbano no Vale do Rio Doce (1904-1980): da rede dendrítica a rede tripartide

Abstract

Despite the recent geography of the Doce river valley, especially since 1950, is well documented and known, its past geography remained as spread set of loose and discontinuous data; sprayed in numerous publications with very specific frames and themes. This paper partially reduce this deficit systematizing the data and knowledge pulverized about the region in a narrative that takes as structuring axis the changes inthe regional urban network. From an exhaustive bibliographical review, statistical surveys, cartographic, iconographic and field interviews, it was possible to resume the formation stages of the regional urban network. With this bias one can register three stages of formation of the urban network: I) The dendritic urban network, established between 1904 and 1936; II) The construction of the bases of the urban network, from 1936 to 1950 and III) The maturation of the regional urban network with the concomitant "creation" of the Steel Valley between 1950 and 1980. Each of these stages is characterized by a specific economic, social and spatial dynamic. Throughout the work it is possible to highlight the decisive role of the opening of the Vitoria-Minas Railroad to occupy a large part of the region and the influence it would continue to exert for a long period until the built of the highways. The collusion of various factorsto shape the regional urban network, many of which are eventually forgotten or suppressed, such as the role of the natural landscape, the urban sites, the supply of volatile natural resources such as forestry, the culture of the inhabitants transport infrastructures whose own technical conditions interact with the places over time.