ACTIVITIES, DYNAMICS AND TERRITORIALITIES OF THE LOWER CIRCUIT IN THE CITY OF MARINGÁ (PR)

Abstract

Cities concentrate multiple forms of production, distribution and consumption that are carried out with diversified techniques and forms of organization. This segmentation creates quantitative and qualitative differences in consumption, which, in turn, constitute the cause and effect of the existence and maintenance of two economic circuits in cities: the upper and lower. While the upper circuit is a direct result of the modernizations that reach the territory, the lower circuit comprises the forms of manufacturing of non-intensive capital, the simpler forms of services provided to retail and the small commerce focused, mainly to the consumption of the population. In this sense, an attempt was made to perform an analysis concerning the activities and dynamics that permeate and define the lower economy circuit in the city of Maringá in light of the variables that characterize the current period, being this, the technique, information, consumption, advertising and finance. The regulatory rigidity exercised by the local public power confers important peculiarities to the lower circuit of the city of Maringá, an aspect that distinguishes it from the manifest reality in other Brazilian cities. The research carried out revealed the locations, activities and workers included in this economic subsystem, evidencing the relevance of this circuit for the maintenance and survival of low-income families in the city of Maringá, as well as in all Brazilian cities, due to the fact that which a considerable part of these families is inserted in the activities and services linked to the inferior circuit of the economy.