The urban system, centralities and the use of urban space in middle cities

Abstract

The text is structured in three parts. In the first, we present a discussion about the concept of center (downtown) and its role for the retail trade. The center is understood as a place of confluence (as a dialectical and hierarchical pair in relation to the periphery) resulting from the search by the economic agents for the best locations for commercial establishments, making use of the land in the city. Next, we discuss the formation of subcenters defining new centralities in medium-sized cities to show how the city restructures in response to changes at different scales, from the broader process of globalization to the localization of commercial activities, in a geographic articulation of scales. The redefinition in the location of commercial activities in areas other than the city center allows the formation of new centers and, consequently, the projection of their roles as new centralities. Finally, the displacement of people in their consumption actions shows how mobility presents itself in urban space. Urban mobility is here explained from the choices and preferences of consumers in their search for the place of purchases articulating what we call centrality to their individual economic profile. We present, in the end, some partial conclusions of a collective research carried out in several medium-sized cities in the State of São Paulo. We have chosen, as case studies, the cities of Presidente Prudente, Ribeirão Preto and Marília, each one with their specific characteristics that condition and are the product of the new relations of people in their choices of consumption. As it deals with a collective work, some descriptions and conclusions are analyzed and explained in function of the spatial, temporal and thematic clipping presented. Although the definition of average city is taken from the position of the city in the urban network, in this study we will privilege the city in its specific restructuring, that is, in the reconfiguration of its urban design. As partial result, we will demonstrate the following: 1) consumption is conditioned by the social class to which the individual belongs; 2) urban mobility (independent of means of transport) shapes the new centralities and modifies the role of the main center of the city; 3) the city restructures because of the locations that differ according to people's purchasing power. From the methodological viewpoint, the information was obtained indirectly and directly through field observation, questionnaires and interviews with different groups of people. As a way of visualizing the relationship between the dimensions of the city center and the location of retail activities, the conformation of new centralities and how consumers are distributed according to their specific characteristics, we use cartographic representation.