Área metropolitana em potencial: o caso da Grande Natal

Abstract

This research aims to understand the urbanization process, focusing on the realization of the metropolitan region of Natal (Grande Natal), in Rio Grande do Norte State. The study carried out was elaborated from a theoretical perspective, which was carried out through a bibliographic survey and which made it possible to understand important concepts such as: territory, urbanization and metropolitan region, so that an adequate analysis was carried out and in line with the reality of the participation of the fifteen municipalities that make up the metropolitan region in question, with a main focus on the six municipalities that make up the functional metropolitan region. The research addresses historical and geographical factors of influence for the territorial expansion of the capital of Natal and population growth as a whole, which currently makes possible in a complex territorial composition, where the conurbation that occurs generating intense flows in the metropolis, presenting a diversity of modes in the interactions between the municipalities, and this way, a difference arises between the functional and institutional metropolitan region.