Urbanized areas in Brazil are equivalent to only 0.54% of the total

Urbanized areas in the country are equivalent to only 0.54% of the total area, shows the study Urbanized Areas of Brazil (2019), by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), released yesterday (23).

According to the study, the general distribution of urbanized areas in the country shows that there is still a marked concentration on the coast, following the historical pattern of settlement since the colonization period.

In the 443 coastal municipalities of Brazil, which occupy approximately 5% of the national territory, there is an extension of 9,166.79 km² of urbanized areas, about 19% of the country’s total.

On the other hand, along the frontier strip municipalities, with an extension of 2,265,046.64 km², about 27% of the national territory, there are 3,803.47 km² of urbanized areas, about 8% of the total, in which it is It is possible to notice greater concentrations in the border areas of the southern region of the country and the state of Roraima.

According to the study, the urbanized regions are equivalent to only 0.54% of the total area of ​​the country.

According to the Land Use and Coverage Observation manager, Manuela Alvarenga, all urbanized areas in the country would fit in the state of Espírito Santo. On the other hand, the sum of the country’s urbanized areas (45,945 km²) is greater than the territories of entire nations, such as Denmark and the Netherlands.

Between 2015 and 2019, there was a 19% increase in urbanized areas, which indicates continued expansion of urbanized areas.

“Outside the coastal region, most of the urbanized areas follow, to a large extent, an alignment with circulation routes, such as roads and river courses, which is reflected in the shape of urban spots and highlights the trends of the interiorization process of the region. urbanization,” says the IBGE.

According to the research, in the Amazon Forest and in the Pantanal biome, regions known for the predominance of natural areas, it is possible to observe large extensions of land without urbanized areas, which is possibly associated with difficult access and legal restrictions on occupation, such as conservation units and indigenous lands, and other non-urbanized forms of occupation, such as huts, farm headquarters, among others.

In other regions with a low concentration of urbanized areas, such as in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, as well as in the areas of Matopiba (region of great growth in the cultivation of grains, whose name is the combination of the abbreviations of the states that have cities in the region: Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia) and the Triângulo Mineiro, such distribution is related to the predominance of agricultural areas characterized by large land properties.

São Paulo is the state with the largest extension of urbanized areas, with 8,614.62 km², concentrating, alone, 18.39% of the total mapped areas and surpassing the state of Minas Gerais by more than 3 thousand km², which occupies the second position in extension of urbanized areas in the country (4,699.69 km²).

“This fact corresponds to the historical concentration pattern of the state in the national context, characterized by the maintenance of continuous growth of the urban fabric reinforced by its centrality and economic strength,” says the IBGE.

With information from Agência Brasil