Cidades pequenas e rede urbana: interações espaciais a partir do sudoeste do estado de Mato Grosso do Sul

Abstract

This study aims to address the urban network on the scale of South Mato Grosso territory, under the analytical approach of the Southwest planning region. In this perspective, it is to grasp the logic that gives meaning to spatial interactions. For this, we turn to the analysis of urban structure (the spatial distribution of cities, their economic and functional roles and their population size) in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, which is composed, mostly, by small urban centers, also characterized by low functional complexity. Urban centers (and their respective municipal territories) such as Bela Vista, Bodoquena, Bonito, Caracol, Guia Lopes da Laguna, Jardim, Nioaque and Porto Murtinho form the Southwest planning region of Mato Grosso do Sul, fitting in the group of small centers. These centers can be defined, according to some theoretical and methodological concepts, as small towns and local cities in which the coalescence of urban functions centralize the life of relations of the near environment, i.e., the spatial range of their roles is limited, according to the analytical approach adopted (the Southwest of Mato Grosso do Sul), at local and regional (nearby). Regarding the set of small towns and local towns that make up the Mato Grosso do Sul urban network, we visualize that bind / articulate to the centers of greater functional complexity, which complement the missing / non-existent functionality at such locations. Following this logic, we highlight four centers (Campo Grande, Dourados, Três Lagoas and Corumbá), which centralize segments of the urban network in the provision of goods, services and functions. These four centers, we can still highlight two, Campo Grande and Dourados, ranked by IBGE (2008) as Regional Capitals, i.e., centers where the complexity of their urban functions, project their influence on considerable portion of the territory. Campo Grande (Regional Capital), also political and administrative capital of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, extends its spatial range almost on the whole territory of the state, except for the South and South-Central portion under the influence of Dourados (Regional Capital C), which mediates interactions with Campo Grande. Regarding the analytical approach of the Southwest of the state, we can see that the spatial interactions produced from the urban centers are oriented mainly by the influence of the Regional Capital A; leaning, however, a smaller degree of articulation, the influence of Regional Capital C. In addition to the structure of the urban network, under the influence of these two centers, we can see that the spatial interactions converge with considerable intensity, for a spot of the Southwest, which seems to set up a horizontal cohesion between urban centers, Jardim. In addition to the hierarchical configuration that the urban network flows take, we found that the spatial interactions are not restricted to this pattern, showing the complexity of the reticular space where complementarities, non-subordination and other socio-spatial relations appear to rule the logic of flows.