CARTOGRAPHIC VISUALIZATION OF MORPHOLOGICAL AND HIERARCHICAL RELATIONS IN CITY NETWORKS: A BASIS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE URBAN SYSTEMS OF THE QUADRILÁTERO FERRÍFERO

Resumo

The present work investigates the urban agglomerates that compose and structure the urban system of Quadrilátero Ferrífero region, which is part of the peri-metropolitan space of Belo Horizonte. Analysis like these are very important to understand the regional space and network from the point of view of its urban structure, fulflling at the same time the lack of further studies on regional scale in Brazil, and mainly about the importance of Quadrilátero Ferrífero (Iron Ore Quadrangle), known for the important role in the national economy since the XVIIIth century with the discovery of gold and, nowadays, with iron mining. Particular attention is given to the study of the functional morphological aspects of the urban agglomerates, analyzing mainly the road axes that connects the cities, characterizing them as new urbanizations along the borders, as well the processes in course of urban growth. As an essential tool for understanding the characteristics and the structure of such space, cartographic visualization is used for the synthesis of the information resulted from the research. In this way, a set of diagrams is elaborated for each urban agglomerate, concerning the evolution stage of its axes. The visualization is organized in maps that depict the structure of the regional urban system, the relations among the cities, the agglomerates and there relation with the metropolis of Minas Gerais. Cartographic visualization becomes an indispensable instrument to clarify the importance that the urban agglomerates have for the urban system of the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, as well as the importance that this system has for the peri-metropolitan space of Belo Horizonte.