CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE NOTION OF POLICENTRISM: A CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF CENTRALITY IN INTERMEDIATED CITIES

Abstract

In this article, we analyze the use of the notion of polycentrism, considering partially divergent conceptions, to understand the process that, at different scales, embrases universal and particular elements, as a function of, respectively, the increment of centralization of capital, with new scales of performance, and own dynamics of regional, metropolitan and intra-urban dimensions, which, for these reasons, requires non-coincident methodological procedures. Taking the cut of analysis the intermediated cities and defending the use of notion to understand centrality in such spaces, we highlight the emergence of new central areas, which implicate the complexity of the spatial structure, the hierarchy of intra-urban centrality and the relations between spaces of consumption, apprehended by analyzing the concentration of commercial activities and services, complexity of capital of companies and analysis of interviews with the townspeople, denouncing new economic logics and redefining spatial practices of consumption.