NON-METROPOLIZED URBAN SPACES IN NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL: MOSSORÓ/RN AS A REGIONAL CAPITAL
division of labor, productive restructuring, natural resources, capitalist socio-spatial relations, Mossoró-RN
Amidst the challenges discussed about the Brazilian Northeast, the themes involved with the insertion of forms of economic development in the Northeastern territories are recurrent and urgent. In this context, we defend the thesis that: the regional position of Mossoró and the conformation of its urban area, in the first two decades of the 21st century, are reflections of the occurrence, in the Brazilian Northeast, of productive restructuring linked to the spatial organization processes involved in production capitalist. The problematic of the thesis is supported by the question: how was the productive restructuring, in Sertão, associated with the maintenance of the position of Regional Capital of Mossoró and what were the effects of this on its urban space? As theoretical answers, two hypotheses were raised. The first proposes that the maintenance of Mossoró's position is associated with the effects of changes in the productive structure of the Sertão, disseminatedas a result of productive restructuring. The other hypothesis points to the existence of a relationship between the regional position of Mossoró and the production of its urban space. Due to the large number of municipalities that are present in the area of influence of Mossoró, we delimited a region with 23 municipalities. The spatial area was called pluridynamic territory the intensive use natural resources (TPURN). In this scenario, the general objective of the research was to identify changes in the TPURN's productive structure, to verify whether they contributed to the consolidation of Mossoró's regional position and how this affected its urban area. The thesis investigation was carried out through Marxist theoretical and methodological contributions, using quantitative and qualitative techniques, with emphasis on the creation of categories of analysis that unified the theory of socio-spatial relations by Jessop, Brenner and Jones (2018) with the ideas of organizing processes of capitalist space by Brandão (2012). We identified that from the 2000s onwards, there was an intensification of the dispersion of productive restructuring in the Sertão through three vectors: the war of places; the national productive deconcentration; and public/private investments. Theys caused the acceleration of the actions of capitalist socio-spatial processes on TPURN, increasing regional productive activities and consequently strengthening the conditions involved in Mossoró's regional position. In this context, the concentration/centralization of capital, caused by the strengthening of the municipality's regional position, intensified, causing the expansion of the urban area and a spatial redistribution of the commerce and services sectors in its intra-urban area. We understand, from the data analyzed, that both hypotheses are true. Thus, we point out that the thesis defended is consistent with the reality of the spatial/temporal framework investigated. In this sense, we understand that the development of actions aimed at increasing the level of economic development of Mossoró should not only consider advertising its advantages. Effective actions must contemplate the regional productive context of the municipality and the capitalist transformations underway. Thus, other studies, considering the factors associated with Mossoró's regional position, can be carried out to identify challenges and opportunities for the evolution of the municipality socioeconomic and area urban.