Brazilian metropolises: diversification, concentration and dispersion

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the diversification of the metropolitan phenomenon, due to the complexity of the brazilian urban network and the change in the definition of metropolis. This definition embraced command, direction and coordination roles rather than one of production. The use of information about population growth and distribution, according to municipal levels of integration to the agglomeration’s dynamic, related to internal organization of metropolitan space – in which tendencies for concentration and dispersion are observed. The information about urban mobility indicates that the metropolitan space is still going through concentration processes, especially because of the relevance of such central areas or nucleuses - agglomerations with large populations and job posts. These are, simultaneously, going through dispersion processes, since there are housing moves between the cities  that compose a metropolis. The widening of ordinary transit increases the potencial for urban expansion and puts in perspective some city living problems, such as mobility difficulties.