Transporte e reprodução do espaço: o papel da Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil na dinâmica do espaço urbano de Santos Dumont

Abstract

Traditionally it has been common the idea that there is a direct relationship between transport infrastructure and regional development. This relationship can generate, over time, direct and indirect effects on different economy sectors. Therefore, it is important to note that the construction of transport infrastructure has a number of consequences on the economic and social development of a region. Thus, the development of such systems is capable of promoting transformation of urban spaces, industrial or generates different territorial divisions, which demonstrates the close link between the geographical area and the means of circulation. This characteristic can be observed in several regions of Brazil, especially considering the importance of the introduction of the railroad in Brazil as an activity - means capable of producing and reproducing shapes and configurations of social and economic life of many cities and regions that have had in the railway activity one of the principal means of development, as in the case of cities located in Zona da Mata Mineira. Thus, this study aims to understand how the means of circulation, in this case represented by the railroad E. F. D. Pedro II / E. F. Central do Brasil participates in the reproduction process of space and structure of productive capital in the city of Santos Dumont. Importantly, the relationship between transport and regional development is the result of an economic activities system appropriate to the whole development, which leads us to make a depth analysis of historical, socials, political, technological and economic characteristics existing throughout the installation process and use of the railroad in Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais. Through this configuration it is possible to understand the role of geographical forms created and the interactions and complementarities between them, having had in the transport system, in this case the railroad, the means by which the spaces are attached to the productive circuit in each historical moment, having it being produced and reproduced according to the performance of various actors involved in the process.