Identifying functional urban regions with spatial analysis techniques: the case of the metropolitan region of Vale do Paraíba and Litoral Norte

• Grant number: 14/25424-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2015
• End date: February 28, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Urban and Regional Planning - Methods and Techniques of Urban and Regional Planning
• Principal Investigator: Gustavo Garcia Manzato
• Grantee: Mauro Antonio de Oliveira Junior
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In January 2012, the governor of the state of São Paulo sanctioned the creation of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba and Litoral Norte (RMVPLN). The installation of Functional Urban Regions (FURs), as regard here, in general, metropolitan regions, urban agglomerations and conurbations, in fact stimulates the development and implementation of policies for urban planning and management in line with the interests of the municipalities that form them. However, given the inherent complexity of this concept, the definition of these FURs is not usually a simple task, in which different methodologies have been developed and constantly improved. It is estimated that the definition of the RMVPLN was based on criteria established by the Constitution of the state of São Paulo in 1989. These criteria, however, do not contemplate quantitative definitions, especially regarding the influence of the transportation infrastructure in the existing inter-relationships between municipalities that form this metropolitan area. Thus, we intend to conduct an analysis of the definition of the RMVPLN using spatial analysis techniques, namely: spatial statistics and spatial modeling, applied to indicators of population density and road infrastructure supply.