The geographic space, according to many approaches, is built and articulated from networks. Milton Santos made recognized findings on the importance, complexity and hierarchy of geographic networks, formed, according to him, by a set of fixed points interconnected through flows. In the meantime, different types and subtypes are formed, such as transport networks, digital, urban, among other examples.
Therefore, in a broader definition, we can understand the geographic networks as a set of locations on the earth's surface connected or interconnected with each other. These connections can be material, digital and cultural, in addition to involving the flow of information, goods, knowledge, cultural and moral values, among others.
With the process of globalization, we can say that the networks – or, at least, many of them – have gained a greater reach and coverage in the world geographic space. However, the access and diffusion power of these networks depend on the different hierarchies in societies, constituted by economic or political power. Thus, those who have more resources or power have a greater possibility of taking advantage of the structure of geographic networks.
It should be noted that the structuring and evolution of networks inevitably permeate the evolution of techniques and technologies. In the nineteenth century, the transformations brought about by industrial revolutions provided a fundamental advance in transport networks, including road and rail. In this way, distant cities became interconnected, which extended to points located, even, on different continents.
THE Informational Technical-Scientific Revolution it also greatly intensified the expansion of networks, including the transport network itself, by means of the most advanced planes and jets. The formation of digital networks and also the advances in communication networks they became major milestones for that period. Thus, in real time, announcements and financial transactions occur and important news is released; even business meetings no longer require the physical presence of all their participants, which exemplifies the degree of technical advancement of the networks.
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The importance of geographic networks was also given to the advancement of financial capitalist system, which, for many, won the status of informational capitalism. The expansion of multinational companies is greatly facilitated, including the formation of holdings, which are groupings between companies interconnected in international networks.
Networks play an active role in the configuration of geographic space, and this is more clearly established in the constitution of hierarchies at the heart of the networks themselves. An example is the urban network, which is defined from local to global at the most diverse hierarchical levels, from the most advanced global cities to the regional centers of peripheral countries. Thus, what is perceived in the different geographic networks is the constitution of “nodes” formed by different sizes, that is, some with more flows than others.
Geographical networks are, after all, an important link between the different parts of the geographic space that make up the world system in times of globalization. Thus, they allow and also condition the transport and dissemination of numerous technical instruments, in addition to goods, information and knowledge, being directly associated with most of the elements that make up the daily life of societies.
By Me. Rodolfo Alves Pena
