Biritinga, a small city in Northeast Bahia: population size, urban network, and country-city relationship

Abstract

Geographical science (urban geography and regional geography) has a long tradition of studying urban networks and hierarchies, centrality positions, polarization effects, and functional relationships among cities, whose accumulation makes it possible to understand the spatial organization and urban-regional processes and dynamics. The study of rural-urban relations also finds density in the field of agrarian geography. Considering these theoretical concepts, this paper aims to analyze the urban-regional dynamics of Biritinga, a small City in the Bahia State, Brazil, as well as the pertinent rural contents. As a methodology, secondary data surveys were carried out, including population data, economic activities, number of establishments, and formal jobs by activity sectors. The field research consisted of applying two hundred and fifty questionnaires to the population living in the city, whose sample was defined by statistical criteria, taking the urban population as a basis. In conclusion, it was found that (a) the municipal administration is conditioned on the employment and income generation, whose resources are coming from the State government transfers; (b) there is intensity of rural-urban relations and mark of rurality on the urban; and (c) the city's population relies on a regional urban system, forming an urban hierarchy.