A evolução do segmento supermercadista e as transformações do espaço urbano em Natal/RN

Abstract

The current research is centered on the study of the evolution of the supermarket segment and the transformations of Natal-RN’s urban space. Because of the alterations that have been happening on the productive system, in the context of the economy’s globalization, new forms of trade, that demand large areas to settle, are born. The highlight is the retail commerce with the predominance of food products, like supermarkets, hypermarkets, and wholesale/retail hybrid stores. These commercial developments influence the city’s dynamic, therefore influencing the space-producing process since they create new urban spatiality. This study defends the thesis that supermarket retail commerce is an important vector of the transformations that have been taking place in Natal since the 1970s. To prove the announced thesis, the systematization of the study was guided by methodological procedures, with the bibliographical, documentary, and on-site surveys being highlighted, in addition to the use of periodization. The technical-conceptual construction happened through bibliographic research, by consulting several books, journals, dissertations, and thesis that contributed to the discussions about urban space, production of space, the city, commerce, modern retail and the supermarket, among others. The research also collected secondary data from public bodies, from interviews, and from cartographic production that referred to its study area. The results indicate that there was a correlation between the supermarket’s commercial activity expansion, and the transformation in Natal-RN’s urban space, considering that the activity brought space valorization, redefined the location of business developments in the same segment, and also provided an emergency for spatial practices. This research proves to be relevant because of the contributions in the comprehension of Natal’s spatial dynamic, and, especially, it also contributes to the comprehension of the commercial activity’s dynamic, with emphasis on the supermarket segment. In this sense, the research highlights the relationship between commerce and the city from an analytical perspective, based on the supermarket segment’s dynamic.