Brazilian Cities: Which City? What Planning?

Abstract: This article seeks to analyze and discuss the concepts of urban and city applied to the Brazilian reality. It has as references different studies anchored in methodologies and analytical perspectives adopted by scholars, academics, and researchers. It seeks to enhance the debate and considers the typologies of several Brazilian cities, as well as the current characteristics of the country’s cities as a whole, with a view to deciphering urban Brazil and its peculiarities. In addition, the paper discusses and reflects on the need to adapt the instruments for planning and urban management frequently used in municipal government interventions carried out in urban areas, guided by this reality, given that the concerns of planners, academics, researchers and public institutions still target large urban centers, while neglecting smaller municipalities and towns and, consequently, leaving these on the margins of urban planning and management.

Key words : city; urban; urban planning; urban management

       JEL code : R58