The spatial structure of the metropolitan regions of Brazil

It is well known that there is a strong relationship between urbanization and economic development in many countries of the world. Urbanization provides many benefits to the economy, such as efficient allocation of resources and economies of scale. In addition, urbanization in developing countries is much faster than has been experienced historically by developed countries. This paper describes the spatial structure of the eight metropolitan regions of Brazil during 1940-80. The analysis shows that the experience of these regions is similar to what has been observed in the developed and some other developing countries. The growth of population and employment in these areas has been rapid but its speed has been associated with the size of the region. Both population and employment in large metropolitan regions have deconcentrated, while they have concentrated in small regions. Employment is spatially more concentrated than is population. Large establishments in manufacturing tend to be located in the rings. The reverse trend is observed in commerce.