Sociospatial processes, urban restructuring and daily commuting in the Campinas Metropolitan Region

Author(s)

Rafael Henrique Moraes Pereira

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
• Defense date: 2008-03-24

Examining board members

Daniel Joseph Hogan; Jose Marcos Pinto da Cunha; Luciana Correa do Lago

• Advisor: Daniel Joseph Hogan

Abstract

Recent changes in Brazil¿s urban agglomerations have promoted a more dispersed and fragmented ¿ but at the same time, more integrated ¿ urban pattern. Along with these changes, some specific types of population spatial mobility are stressed, such as commuting. This study aims to explore a new theoretical framework for the analysis of commuting, with attention to its relations with social processes which impact urban structure by affecting residence and job locations in urban space. These processes synthesize the elements of the structure of opportunities/constraints which affect commuting patterns and commuters¿ socioeconomic characteristics. Using mainly Brazilian census data, this study illustrates empirically these ongoing processes over the last four decades in the metropolitan area of Campinas, presenting spatial and qualitative patterns with special attention to three specific cities (Hortolândia, Vinhedo e Campinas). The possibility of considering some of these cities¿ historical particularities in regional dynamics leads us to a clearer understanding of the predominance of various commuting constraints on different situations (AU)