Analytical reflections on a metropolitan region in southern Brazil

the region of Porto Alegre / RS

Abstract

This comparative theoretical methodological reflection of the metropolitan region of porto alegre / rs (rmpa), based on the analysis of secondary data and the respective conception of explanatory hypotheses, seeks to produce propositional syntheses that point out ways to understand regional rationality and dynamism within the scope of metropolitan region and its area of influence. From the analysis of the productive macro-sectors, the indication of the regional potentialities of the different economic regions, we seek to foster the activities and regional potentialities in which each region is more competitive. It is understood that, once the segments in which each region is more competitive are defined, it is possible to carry out a coordinated policy between the various actors and organizational models. The main indicator of the potential of regional development is its current specialization, approaching the idea of “potential”, in an effort to identify the degree of specialization and concentration of productive activities. The methodological strategy favored, at first, analysis of economic and population aspects and data with secondary statistical data, seeking to define a preliminary diagnosis of regional potentialities; in the second moment, from the data and information survey, the consistency and economy of the hypotheses suggested in the preliminary diagnosis were tested. Potentials were identified in the industrial and service sectors at rmpa, sectors that have been gaining ground in the regional economy in recent decades. The sectors with the greatest potential were identified, based on the study of ql’s and gva. Given the expansion of population occupation, economic activities and intense urbanization, there is a strong tendency for the service sector to expand due to urban agglomerations and urbanization of rural areas.

Keywords: Regional analysis. Productive specialization. Regional development.