REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT-DOES THE REGION MATTER?1

Abstract

The territorial dimension of development processes has been recognized by researchers from different areas of knowledge. In discussions on regional development, the relevance of the territory stands out even more, given the multi-scale character that permeates the theme. The purpose of this article is to discuss the meaning of the regional (private) dimension, understood as a mediation between the global (universal) and the local (singular), in studies on development from an interpretive and descriptive approach, supported by bibliographical sources. Territory is understood as a contradictory totality, marked by conflicts and tensions, in which particular socio-spatial arrangements shape regions. The dimension of particularity, which manifests itself in the territory through the region, originates from socio-spatial formations, which express political, economic, social, cultural and environmental characteristics that are also particular, configured over time, in the various portions of the earth's surface.