The “geographic blindness” in brazilian territorial and regional public policies

Abstract

The objective of this article is to discuss the operational validity of the concepts of territory and region as proposed by the National Policy of Territorial Planning (PNOT, in Portuguese) and in systematization of the first National Policy of Regional Development (PNDR I, in Portuguese). The guiding line of the analysis considers that the excessive amount of methodologies and the indiscriminate use of both concepts have questioned the theoretical basis and the operationalization of these policies in the context of trying to reduce regional inequalities and to elaborate public policies with the articulation of multiple spatial scales. The paper concludes that the “geographic blindness” of the territory and the region in Brazil’s governmental planning and public policies is consequence of a methodological problem of the public policies impact in the territory, and not the territory as a base of support for the elaboration and articulation of the public policies.

Keywords:
Territory; Region; National Policy of Territorial Planning; National Policy of Regional Development