Dispersion of the city and the gated communities: the process of urban agglomeration between Presidente Prudente/SP and Ãlvares Machado/SP

Abstract

In Brazilian intermediate cities there would be at least two types of esquesof the urban fabric: one of them is related to the scale of the city itself, while the second comprises urban agglomerations polarized by intermediate cities. This second, calling the dispersion of the City, can be observed in the urban agglomeration formed between Presidente Prudente and Ãlvares Machado. The territorial expansion of each urban nucleus intensified the relations and interactions between the municipalities, both from the physical-territorial point of view and in relation to commuting displacements. The scope of life or the space of daily living of the city dwellers is increasingly becoming effective in this broader scale. In the agglomeration investigated, the gated communities of high standard have been constituting, more recently, as an important vector of intensification of flows and intermunicipal interactions, especially along important roads that reach both municipalities, such as the Raposo Tavares and Arthur Boigues Filho highways. In the end, new questions are presented as the objective of contributing to future investigations concerning the possible relationship between closed residential spaces and the process of urban agglomeration.