Economic cycles and its reflexes in the urban space of the municipality of Novo Aripuanã-Amazonas

Abstract

Located at the Brazilian Amazon, the municipality of Novo Aripuanã has elements of the urban space created based on the economic cycles of the region. The goal of the article is to understand the logics and agents that played a role in the construction of the urban space of Novo Aripuanã. A profile of the geo-history of the municipality from 1830 to 2020 was used as a methodology to better understand the issue. This article identified that the rubber and Brazilian nut cycles are directly related to the origin of the municipality, whereas the exploitation of wood and minerals predominates as the current economic activities. Most of the municipality's economic cycles are associated with the dynamics of life in rural areas or elsewhere, while municipal administration and urban life were poorly benefited from it. Regarding the agents that created the urban space of Novo Aripuanã, documents point to contributions of the owners of the means of production, Roman Catholic Church, which build important urban facilities, and the State, although, in most cases, acting late and ignoring socially excluded groups. This paper concludes that Novo Aripuanã has the basic characteristics of a small town in the Amazon, characterized by slow temporalities and administrative and social assistance incapability.