DESENVOLVIMENTO REGIONAL E SUAS CONSEQUêNCIAS EM RORAIMA: NOTAS PRELIMINARES A PARTIR DA BR-174

This article analyzes the territorial restructuring of the state of Roraima in the extreme north of Brazil, which it characterizes as a process of urban globalization with intensified geographically uneven development. Blending governmental documents, secondary statistical sources and media reports with fieldwork-based site observations, and local surveys and interviews, the article argues that federal investments in roadway development and ancillary infrastructure have brought about unprecedented connectivity and economic dynamism for the state. Yet, the article also shows that rather than sustainable regional development, governmental plans and projects were guided by the imperative of economic transnationalization and urban competitiveness with an overarching focus on metropolitan Manaus, the primate regional core for the Western Amazon region where Roraima has historically played a peripheral role.