A pequena cidade como plataforma de acumulação capitalista : desenvolvimento geográfico desigual e a nova urbanização dependente no Brasil

Abstract

In the diversity found among Brazil’s 5,570 municipalities, when organized by population size, small towns stand out. The 2022 IBGE census revealed a tendency in terms of population growth in Brazil: small municipalities stood out in terms of their annual geometric population growth rate. By analyzing the results in greater depth, we can see that there is much more than just a shift in demographic dynamics; it reveals an entire structure of urbanization driven by economic interests. The established urban hierarchy has been—and continues to be—subverted, and boundaries are being redefined, while peripheral territories—on the periphery of the country’s economic and urban development—are being mobilized in the service of global economic interests to serve logics of financial and productive valorization that were previously foreign to them. This article aims to reflect on the small Brazilian city based on the dynamics of recent urbanization at this scale, highlighting that this process is embedded in the logic of global accumulation and peripheral dependence, revealing the manifestation of new dependent urbanization in these territories.