Geosystem, Territory, and Landscape (GTP) and brazilian Physical Geography: analytical overview and contributions to the socioenvironmental debate

Abstract

The GTP (Geosystem, Territory, and Landscape) tripolar system is a theoretical-methodological proposition aimed at integrating the concepts of geosystem, territory, and landscape to support socio-environmental research. However, the way Brazilian geographers have utilized the GTP, with its successes and challenges, is not fully understood. In this vein, the present study seeks to grasp the relevance of the assumptions of the tripolar system for socio-environmental debates related to territorial planning. The study also aims to identify the pattern of GTP usage in dissertations and theses published in 18 Geography Postgraduate Programs in Brazil between 2007 and 2015. To achieve this, attention was given to a set of bibliometric variables that allow for the recognition of trajectories and trends in the subject. It is observed that the GTP system has enabled Physical Geography to develop socio-environmental studies that span naturalistic, socioeconomic, and sociocultural perspectives related to territorial planning. However, dissertations and theses face challenges in reinterpreting the original propositions by the French geographer Georges Bertrand, hindering the integration between the system's concepts and products based on the geography/national reality.