Expanded commuting in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte: evidence for reverse commuting

Abstract

Large Brazilian cities, particularly those that have experienced rapid population growth since the middle of the last century, have exhibited significant signs of population dispersion in their peripheries in recent decades. A study of the population's spatial redistribution in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (MRBH) confirms this finding. In the process of dispersion, the levels of urban commuting increase, and commuting becomes a relevant indicator of the degree of integration within the metropolis. This paper evaluates the current magnitude and main features of reverse commuting, as characterized by the daily displacements of the population that resides not in the periphery but rather in the core. Flows from the metropolitan core towards the peripheral municipalities are examined using sample microdata on the MRBH municipalities from the 2000 and 2010 demographic censuses by combining the variables of "municipality of residence" and "municipality of work/study." The results indicate an increase in reverse commuting in both absolute and relative terms. When this flow is compared to traditional commuting (periphery/center), the relative values are considerable. In some cases, this relationship reaches notably high values, as the case of Confins (the municipality where the international airport is located), and also municipalities that are part of a relatively old conurbation, such as Nova Lima and Betim.

Landscape evolution in ferruginous geosystems of the Iron Quadrangle, Brazil: a speleological approach in a biodiversity hotspot

“…There is a less notable increase in the number of urban and mining fragments but a substantial increase in the size of these areas (Table 1 and Fig. 2) influenced mainly by the development of the [38] metropolitan region of the city of Belo Horizonte [53,74] and the global iron ore market [73]. This study indicates that these changes in the landscape occurred mainly due to the expansion of regions previously occupied by these activities.…”

Migration and Commuting in the Areas of Influence of the Brazilian Metropolises

“…Data on population commuting within the Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Region (RMBH) and the Paulista Macro-Metropolis (CUNHA et al, 2013) also confirm this trend. Several studies have shown that since the 1970s, many municipalities in the metropolitan periphery have experienced high population growth, often resulting from the large volume of migrants originating from the metropolitan nucleus (LOBO et al, 2015).…”

Mobilidade e planejamento metropolitano no Brasil: o caso da Região Metropolitana de Goiânia

“…O que se verifica de forma geral nas regiões metropolitanas brasileiras é que as gestões municipais desenvolvem ações de gestão desarticuladas, o que demonstra a falta de integração de políticas, em especial as de planejamento urbano. No âmbito da mobilidade, este fato leva ao agravamento do espraiamento urbano, com consequente majoração dos deslocamentos pendulares, tema este investigado por diversos trabalhos, dada sua relevância e complexidade de solução (MOURA et al, 2005;LOBO et al, 2015).…”