Economic dynamics and urban network in Ceará in the beginning of the 21st century

Abstract

This article discusses the economic dynamics and the evolution of the urban network of Ceará in the first decade of this century. In addition to the secular heritage, decisive elements in space structuring of Ceará were the various policies implemented by state governments that articulated the economy of Ceará to the movements of Brazilian and international economies, influencing its spatial organization. It shows that it was in the colonial period that the capital city has become the main urban center of the state, by centralizing the exceeding of the hinterland activities sustained in the binomial livestock farming - cotton. Then, it presents the changes observed in the phase of integration of the national market, when the main investments were concentrated in the city of Fortaleza. Given this high concentration, efforts to decentralize the production activity can be observed, as from a deliberate act of the state government, through the instruments of tax war, which attracted significant investment to the interior of the state, without, however, reducing intrastate disparities, still strongly marked by the predominance of metropolitan areas. Nevertheless, dynamic focuses arise in the economy of Ceará, contributing to a greater differentiation in the countryside of the state.