Urbanização e cidades médias: papéis da difusão urbano-regional de comércio e serviços de Petrolina (PE) e Campina Grande (PB)

Abstract

Medium-sized cities are important within the Brazilian urban network. Studies of these cities, in different contexts, are extremely relevant due to the centrality they exert in the regions where they are located. Therefore, we aim to analytically and theoretically study the cities of Campina Grande (PB) and Petrolina (PE), both located in the semi-arid Northeast and significant in REGIC 2018 for their regional influence. Our objective here is to understand these cities from the perspective of centrality and their internal structure, exploring the similarities and peculiarities through the presence of shaping agents and their developments using demographic and spatial data on urban land use in these cities. Ultimately, we understand that the intensified presence of these agents in medium-sized cities has led to a reconfiguration of these urban spaces in recent decades, with greater intensity during the 2010s and 2020s.