Spatial mobility in Brazilian Metropolis: Complexity of Urban Space

Abstract

The changes in demographic dynamics in urban areas during the last decades are related to the territorial, economic and social reconfiguration of metropolitan areas, in which the population movements play a fundamental role. In this article, we propose an approach to a migrational movement within 14 metropolitan regions, which are: Belém, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Campinas, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Goiânia, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador , São Paulo and Vitória. We ask whether this phenomenon affects the historical “pressure by the central metropolitan areas”, or if this population is changing their residence, but is still working at the center. Thinking about the movements of the population employed in the metropolitan areas, we also aim to consider movements’ types (center-periphery, periphery-center, periphery-periphery) and a characterization of this population. Consequently, we think about the different logics that determine the place of residence and the place of work in urban ife. The location of jobs in the most “central” areas and the considerable amount of people moving to these cities are also still significant phenomenon. Is the daily commute an alternative to live in other areas of the metropolitan region and work in central areas? Our proposal is that these processes need to be analyzed more and more in conjunction with the intra-metropolitan migration.