DEMOGRAPHIC GROWTH AND URBANIZATION IN MEDIUM- SIZED MUNICIPALITIES: CHANGES IN THE REGIONAL URBAN DYNAMICS OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL

Abstract

The medium-sized municipalities and their cities having been drawing attention lately due to their population growth and the new functions they perform, especially as articulators of the deconcentration of economic activity and population dispersion, as they contribute to the development of urban agglomerations of the urban network of non-metropolitan regions. This study presents an analysis of the medium-sized municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), introducing the debate about the processes of urbanization and population concentration in a regional context. Demographic data of the municipalities of RS were analyzed, with emphasis on population growth from 2000 to 2010. A process of population concentration was identified in urban agglomerations and in larger cities. In addition to the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, with the largest population concentration, there is a polarization of urbanization over the territory, whose spatial distribution is largely due to the non-metropolitan medium-sized municipalities. The data analyzed indicate that the medium-sized municipalities have obtained a considerable population contribution in the last decades, which leads us to reflect on the transformations of the urban space that they experience, considering that the demographic size provides greater intensity and complexity in the socio-spatial dynamics of the intra-urban spaces of these cities. The demographic, economic and urban growth experienced by these medium-sized municipalities has also contributed to changes in the regional urban dynamics of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, as well as in the dynamics of organization and functioning of its urban network.