The role of intermediate cities for regional development: a study from the sub-regional centers

• Published in: Geo UERJ : revista do Departamento de Geografia 2013-06, p.228
• Main Authors: Dantas, Joseney Rodrigues de Queiroz, Clementino, Maria do Livramento Miranda
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• ISSN: 1415-7543
• DOI: 10.12957/geouerj.2013.6915

Studies on medium-sized cities in Brazil gain prominence in the academic and public policies development in the 1970s. With the new economic context of globalization and territorial reconfigurations, some author shave proposed the use of the term intermediate city or town intermediary, whose scope is built on qualitative criteria, including the idea of a structured space of relations and flows in us. In the Northeast, the urbanization process was slow, fragmented, dispersed geographic and economically, which resulted in a truncated urban network, which consists primarily of its nine regional capitals and about two dozen medium-sized cities, mostly interiorized. It is from this' urban network northeastern interiorized' we seek to understand the fundamental functions of Pau dos Ferros(RN), Souza and Cajazeiras(PB) in regional development and the role they playin their respective regions of influence that permeate the ray partition RN-PB-CE. A priori these functions would offer enough jobs to accommodate the population surrounding rural and absorb the population of urban areas saturated and ease living conditions. In general terms, what can be seen is that trade and services has a very high relative share in the PIB composition of the three cities, reinforced by the participation of the state, especially the provision of education services, including higher and health, beyond of jobs, particularly in trade and public services, which allows us to treat them as a priori intermediate cities. Keywords: medium-sized cities, urban network Northeastern interiorized, sub-regional centers, regional development, Pau dos Ferros-Cajazeiras-Sousa. Os estudos sobre as cidades medias no Brasil ganham destaque no meio academico e na elaboracao de politicas publicas nos anos 1970. Com o novo contexto economico da globalizacao e as reconfiguracoes territoriais, alguns autores tem proposto a utilizacao do termo cidade intermedia ou cidade intermediaria, em cujo escopo esta embutido criterios de natureza qualitativa, inclusive a ideia de um espaco de relacoes estruturado em nos e fluxos. Na regiao Nordeste, o processo de urbanizacao foi lento, atomizado, geografico e economicamente disperso, o que resultou numa rede urbana truncada, constituida principalmente por suas nove capitais regionais e cerca de duas dezenas de cidades de porte medio, em sua maioria interiorizadas.E a partir dessa 'rede urbana nordestina interiorizada' que buscamos compreender as funcoes fundamentais de P