CONTEMPORARY URBAN AND CENTER-PERIPHERY STRUCTURE

URBANO CONTEMPORÂNEO Y ESTRUTURA CENTRO-PERIFERIA

Abstract

The contemporary urban phenomenon has challenged studies that seek to establish generalizations about spatial structuring, leading to continual questioning of center-periphery models. The proliferation of shopping malls towards the "peripheries" represents an important indicator capable of promoting this debate. Thus, the article analyzes the spatial structuring logic of Brazil's shopping center sector, particularly its expansion into the Brazilian Amazon. To that end, it raises two questions: Is the Brazilian center-periphery model still able to explain shopping centers' spatial distribution, considering the regions and hierarchy of the cities in which they are located? Based on the hierarchy and intra-urban space of its cities, how does this spatial distribution take place in the Brazilian Amazon? The sector's data is mapped based on information from the Brazilian Association of Malls and the Regic/IBGE/2018 study. On the intra-urban scale, it establishes three locational types (central, pulverized, fragmented) based on the uses within a 1 km radius of the malls. The study concludes that the center-periphery model has not lost its explanatory validity. However, it must be improved to capture the complexity of contemporary spatial structuring, dialoguing on multiple scales, and different socio-spatial formations.

Keywords:
Contemporary Urban; Center; Periphery; Shopping Mall; Brazilian Amazon