Conurbation it is an urban phenomenon that occurs when two neighboring cities expand to the point of meeting, composing a single urban nucleus. In some situations, the two cities grow until they meet at one or more points in the territory. In other cases, only one of the cities “reaches” the other and ends up “invading” that other urban center.
THE conurbation it is a common phenomenon in large urban centers, but it is not restricted to them. In Brazil, in general, the conurbation gives rise to the calls metropolitan regions, which are sets of neighboring municipalities interconnected in geographic space through economic relations and social practices. As stated by VILLAÇA:
“São Paulo began to conurb with São Caetano do Sul in the second decade of this century. São Caetano was founded in 1877 ( Martins, 1992, 30), and soon after began to grow. At that time there were numerous cities around São Paulo. Some grew, some didn't. Those that grew were a manifestation of the growth of São Paulo. This growth was due to the fact that they were in strategic positions (next to the railroad to Santos, in the case of São Caetano).” 1
Currently, the city of São Paulo it is conurbed with almost all of its neighboring municipalities. It is the most expressive representation of the conurbation phenomenon in Brazil. People commonly move from one municipality to another within the metropolitan region of São Paulo without noticing that they have crossed the boundaries that separate the municipalities. This unification of urban centers is a fundamental characteristic of the conurbation process.
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Hierarchy and relationships in conurbated areas
In municipalities where conurbation occurs, it is common to have a great dependence of one city on another. This hierarchization of cities occurs, in general, as a result of urban segregation. Citizens are forced to reside in smaller cities – neighboring the large urban center – because rents and the value of real estate in these locations are lower.
The concentration of services and products in the main city makes residents move periodically go to her to study or work and return to their cities at the end of the day – it's the call pendular migration. From this spatial dynamics, the so-called “sleeping cities” arise, where most people do not stay during the day.
1VILLAÇA, Flávio. The Territorial Delimitation of the Urban Process. São Paulo, 1997. Site: http://www.flaviovillaca.arq.br/ Access: Nov. 23 2016.
By Amarolina Ribeiro
Graduated in Geography
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
RIBEIRO, Amarolina. "What is conurbation?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/o-que-e/geografia/o-que-e-conurbacao.htm. Accessed on July 27, 2021.
