Urbanização, dinâmica socioeconômica e relações regionais da pequena cidade de Rio Pardo-RS.

Abstract

This research initially provides a conceptual overview of cities, urbanization and urban networks, with an emphasis on the approach related to small cities. Given the context in which small cities play a strategic role in the formation of the Brazilian urban network and regional development, it is essential to investigate how these dynamics manifest themselves in specific spaces. The city of Rio Pardo, in Rio Grande do Sul, with its rich history and contribution to territorial occupation, has a trajectory that reflects both permanence and recent urban and socioeconomic transformations. Thus, this research proposes to analyze the processes of urbanization and socioeconomic development of the small city over the last thirty years, seeking to understand its regional relevance and the spatial relations it establishes in the context of the Rio Pardo Valley. The central problematization is to explore how Rio Pardo has adapted to contemporary changes and what its role is in the regional urban network, considering the social, economic and territorial interactions that characterize it. The method adopted in this research is historical materialism, which is based on the analysis of social and economic relations based on their historical process, understanding reality as a dynamic and dialectical product. This approach allows the object of study to be interpreted through specific analytical categories: totality, which seeks to understand the urbanization process of the small city of Rio Pardo in its broad context; historicity, which recovers the historical processes that shaped the urban configuration of the city over the last 30 years; contradictions, which analyze the impacts of capitalism on the territory, connecting local reality to global processes; and mediation, which identifies the origins and dynamics that influence current urban transformations. This theoretical-methodological perspective guides the research, allowing a dialogue between the historical aspects and the socioeconomic structures that constitute the city and its region. Thus, by exploring the trajectory of Rio Pardo, the historical and contemporary processes that shaped its urban configuration are highlighted, offering support for future discussions on territorial planning, public policies, and regional development strategies.