PENDULAR FLOWS AND URBAN NETWORK IN THE REGION OF THE VALE DO RIO PARDO/RS

Abstract

The urban network is a system of cities that are articulated to each other through a set of different material and immaterial flows that circulate and move in the geographical space. The urban network is a condition and reflection of the territorial division of labor existing in a territory, and has its dynamics of operation linked to the intraregional economic dynamics as well as to the relations and interactions that the cities of the region establish with other national and world spaces. The structure, configuration and operation of the urban network makes it possible to verify the dynamics of regional development in a territory, by the distribution and connection of its nodes, the cities, and by the content, direction and connection of its flows. Among the different flows that circulate through the urban network, are the commuting of the population to work, articulating a place of origin to a place of destination. In this paper, based on the IBGE 2010 census microdata, we analyzed the spatial patterns of commutings to work between the municipalities of the Vale do Rio Pardo, the characteristics of the employment economic sectors at the destinations, and its relation with the dynamics of the regional urban network. The results indicate the centrality of the medium-sized city of Santa Cruz do Sul and the attractiveness of its urban economy, which centralizes the daily commuting to work in the regional urban network.