Novo desenvolvimentismo e dinâmica urbano-regional no Brasil (2004-2012)

Abstract

Changes in the national and international context pose new issues for debate regarding the urban-regional dynamics in Brazil. Among these issues is the far-reaching international integration of the country, based on its natural resource potential and its articulation with the ‘China effect’ in the reshaping of international relations and the process of de-industrialization, resulting from specialization and the appreciation of the exchange rate. The purpose of this article is to examine the general lines of urban-regional dynamics of change within the Brazilian economy and society since the 1980s, especially during the post-2004 era, in which economic growth and state spending is resumed. This analysis faces major theoretical and methodological challenges, and the article highlights the importance of analytical references such as the spatial division of labor in order to understand regional inequalities and to (re)formulate the Brazilian regional problem.