Abstract

ANDRADE, Adriano Bittencourt. New variables in the contemporary debates on territory. Finisterra [online]. 2010, n.89, pp.157-170. ISSN 0430-5027.

This text is a theoretical contribution to the contemporary debates on the concept of “Territory”. It seeks to address this concept under the light of the major technical, political and economic changes that have been taking place in the early 21st century. It builds on an understanding of the territory as the materialisation of social relations upon geographical space - one which must not be regarded as a mere repository of human action, but rather as a fundamental element in social dynamics. After this conceptual discussion, the article: i) provides a brief overview of the main features that have characterised global (world) space in the late 20th and early 21st Centuries; ii) addresses the impacts of the current socio-political-spatial reconfigurations upon the exercise of citizenship in intra-urban areas; and iii) highlights six specific developments that are crucial to understanding territorial relationships in the contemporary age.

Keywords : Territory; 21^st Century; technical networks; spatial dynamics; globalisation.

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