Polarização e centralidade: uma análise para a rede de cidades brasileira com foco nas cidades médias (2000-2010)

Abstract

This dissertation is an effort to deepen the knowledge of the contemporary particularities of the Brazilian urban network and more specifically of its medium-sized cities. Therefore, analyzing the years 2000 and 2010, it is assumed that population size is an insufficient factor to capture the insertion of urban centers within the different hierarchical levels of the network, which is especially important in Brazil’s case where, for example, due to regional heterogeneity, a city of 100 thousand inhabitants in the State of São Paulo, has a distinct insertion of one in the State of Roraima. To shed light on these issues, the work was organized into four chapters. Initially, Central Place Theory and Agglomeration Economies were discussed to seek theoretical basis that helps in the process of categorization of the network and then, based on empirical explorations combining clusters and quantile econometrics, to evaluate the differences between urban hierarchies of Brazil between 2000 and 2010, as well as the factors that help to explain the change of centrality that occurred in the period. The results point out a continuity of the deepening of the network already verified for previous periods of time, evidenced both by the changes in hierarchical composition and by the levels of centrality of the most peripheral regions of the country. To the already well-known arguments of the agricultural and mineral extraction activities acting as vectors of change in these regions, a new factor that is crucial in the explanation of the change of centrality of the cities in the period is added here: the policies of income redistribution and minimum wage appreciation that were intensified during the decade. Nevertheless, when compared to the USA, the Brazilian city network shows a lower participation of medium-sized cities in its composition, which points to the necessity for a better appreciation of these centers as important element in the articulation of the Brazilian’s urban network development.