The Production Structure of Smaller Towns in Rural Regions in Latin America: A Case from Northern Costa Rica

Abstract

This paper deals with the production structures of small urban centres in peripheral rural regions in Latin America, a theme hardly investigated in a comprehensive and systematic way thus far. Examining the town of Ciudad Quesada, located in a specific type of region in northern Costa Rica, this paper is an attempt to narrow this gap in our knowledge on urban development. The analysis explores the relations between the internal segmentation of this town's production structure and some determining factors external to it. These external factors are the town's economic linkages with its regional hinterland, its functional integration within the national hierarchy of settlements, and elements of national development policy. The two different segments of the town's production structure appear to be based on this set of external factors in different ways.