EIXO DE INTEGRAÇÃO VIÁRIA: IMPACTOS ECONÔMICOS E SOCIAIS DA BR 158 SOBRE AS CIDADES DO VALE DO ARAGUAIA MATO-GROSSENSE ENTRE 2000 E 2014

Abstract

This study seeks to determine the economic and social impacts that highway infrastructure projects caused in cities in the state of Mato Grosso, situated along the BR 158 Highway, such as Barra do Garças, Água Boa, Canarana and Confresa, in the period from 2000 to 2014. Firstly, the role of highway infrastructure investments in promoting the expansion of large monocultures, such as soybeans and corn, was identified. Then, the socioeconomic profile of the region of influence of the BR 158 Highway was characterized, encompassing demography, flow of employment, economic production, exports and imports of the cities, and other items. The study also verified the effects of highway infrastructure investments in the cities in question, in relation to small and medium-sized industrial and commercial segments. Lastly, it identified the goods that are transported and the highway support conditions from the perspective of truck drivers. The methodology used, which was quantitative and qualitative in nature, was supported by instruments, such as observation, interviews, document research and a literature review, with the data presented in the form of comments and tables. In assessing the economic and social impacts of the production changes in the Brazilian cerrado (tropical savanna ecoregion), as a result of highway infrastructure projects, the objective is to help explain the process of regional integration in Mato Grosso, in the current period, and chart it for the upcoming years, based on the infrastructure projects in question.