Campinas/SP, Florianópolis/SC and Vitória/ES are now counted among the current 15 Metropolises. With the inclusion of Campinas/SP - the only city that is not a state capital with this status, São Paulo becomes the first Federation Unit with two Metropolises.

São Paulo (Great National Metropolis), Brasília (National Metropolis) and Rio de Janeiro (National Metropolis) are the top three cities. Belém/PA, BeloHorizonte/MG, Curitiba/PR, Fortaleza/CE, Goiânia/GO, Porto Alegre/RS, Recife/PE, Salvador/BA and Manaus (AM) are the other Metropolises.

There are 32 new cities in the category of Regional Capitals in the States, now totaling 97. The State of São Paulo had the highest absolute number, going from 12 to 20 Regional Capitals. This number increases to 26 when the Regional Capitals under the influence of the Metropolis of São Paulo/SP, which spreads its network to other States, are considered.

Mato Grosso and Rondônia, which had only Cuiabá (MT) and Porto Velho (RO) as Regional Capitals, now have two more cities each with that status, respectively: Sinop (MT) and Rondonópolis (MT); and Cacoal (RO) and Ji-Paraná (RO). Goiás, which used to have none, now has Anápolis (GO) as Regional Capital.

The survey also presents an overview of the attractiveness of Brazilian cities that receive people from neighboring countries to consume goods and services. The most recurrent reasons for transborder relationships are the purchase of shoes and clothing, responsible for connecting 65 foreign locations to Brazil. Cultural activities are another appealing factor. They tend to produce complex patterns of relationships, with multiple connections along the Brazilian border from the south of Mato Grosso to Rio Grande do Sul.

The survey also shows the distances traveled by the population of a certain area to buy goods and services in other cities. Getting to the airport represents the longest average traveled distance, 174 km. The state with the longest average distance traveled was Mato Grosso, with 284 km, followed by Amazonas, with 273 km.

Going to college represents an average traveled distance of 92 km, whereas going to cultural activities, 66 km, the shortest one among all the segments of the survey. São Paulo/SP is the greatest hub for cultural and sorting activities, but Parintins (AM) and the Population Arrngements of Cabo Frio/RJ and Ribeirão Preto/SP call the attention for a cultural appeal much higher than their general appeal.

For high-complexity health assistance, the distance traveled by the population was 155 km, whereas for medium and low complexity care, it was 72 km.

The average distance traveled by the population to acquire electronics and furniture was 73 km, the same as the figure for sports activities. The average travel for the acquisition of clothing and shoes was 78 km. Data related to health services and purchases of clothing and electronics were published beforehand, in April and May, respectively, to help fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The study on the Areas of Influence of Cities (REGIC) 2018 identifies and analyzes the Brazilian urban network, establishing the hierarchy of urban centers and the areas of influence of cities. The result shows the way in which cities relate to each other, through the population travels in search of goods and services, as well as through the connections between companies' headquarters and branches and multilocalized public institutions. The full publication and complementary tables are available on the right of this page.

The 2018 REGIC presents the Population Arrangements of Vitoria/ES, Florianópolis/SC and Campinas/SP- the only non-state capital - as the newest Metropolises. The São Paulo’s Population Arrangements still leads as the Great National Metropolis, the highest position in the urban hierarchy. In the second level of Metropolises are the Population Arrangements of Rio de Janeiro/RJ and Brasília/DF, as National Metropolises. Nevertheless, the Population Arrangements of Belém/PA, Belo Horizonte/MG, Curitiba/PR, Fortaleza/CE, Goiânia/GO, Porto Alegre/RS, Salvador/BA and the Manaus (AM) municipality complete the list of Metropolises.

The second level are the Regional Capitals, urban centers with high concentration of management activities, but with smaller strength in terms of area of influence compared with metropolises. The number of cities in this list rose from 70 to 97. It has three subdivisions: Regional Capital A, Regional Capital B and Regional Capital C.

Although Goiás already had its state capital as a Metropolis in 2007, it did not have any Regional Capitals at the time, and now Anápolis (GO) is listed in the Regional Capital C category. Both Mato Grosso and Rondônia only had one Regional Capital in 2007, Cuiabá (MT) and Porto Velho (RO), and now, in addition to the state capital, they have two more cities in this hierarchy: Sinop (MT) and Rondonópolis (MT); Cacoal (RO) and Ji Paraná (RO), all of them at the Regional Capital C level.

The cities considered in the survey can be either isolated municipalities or integrated municipalities, the Population Arrangements (PA) - those consist of municipalities with contiguous urban spots or a strong pendulum migration for studying and working purposes, with a such an integration that they could be considered as one.

The survey also shows that each urban center is located in the area of influence of another city, generally, the main target for search of goods and services. All the surveyed cities are in the area of influence of, at least, one of the 15 metropolises. The Metropolis of Recife/PE, Belo horizonte/MG and São Paulo/SP have the highest number of cities in their area of influence. The ones that cover the largest area are the network of Brasília/DF, Belém/PA and Manaus (AM).

International commute is what is new 

The 2018 REGIC also presents a scenario of attractiveness in the Brazilian cities that receive people from neighbouring countries in search for goods and services. The result presented an international articulation, specially, in the 102 municipalities in the Brazilian borderland.

The results provide a scenario of how Brazilian cities are internationally articulated by proximity relations, showing that, in general, the influence in goods and services is equivalent to the distance from the borders: the further it gets from the neighboring countries, the lower is the number of localities related to Brazilian cities. The amount of relationships is also equivalent to the popualtion density whose parameters in the South Region are more complex than in the Central-West and North Regions.

The events that caused more interchange between cities through the borders are the commute for the purchase of footwear and clothing, connecting Brazil with 65 international localities, and the cultural activities, that establish complex parameters of relationship, disseminating connections throughout the Brazilian borders from Mato Grosso`s southern part to Rio Grande do Sul. This data indicates that festivities and events attract population, contributing to increase the centralization of those Brazilian cities.

Airports demand the longest population average commute

The survey also indicates the average distance traveled by population in search for goods and services. It also shows which cities have their centrality established by population commute for goods and services. They are linear average distances, which do not consider roads, but are useful in the comparison between cities.

The commute to airports resulted in the highest average rate: 174 km. Mato Grosso recorded the highest average commute, with 284 km, followed by Amazonas with 273 km. The lowest commute rates are in the Federation Units with smallest territorial area, as Sergipe (74 km) and Alagoas (114 km). Moreover, there are other groups of states with low average rates, between 125 km and 146 km, corresponding to those with well-distributed airports in their territory, within the capital and interior zones. They are: Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Paraná and Rio de Janeiro.

Road and water links, in turn, as a way of connecting the urban network, since they transportat persons, present high capillarity. For this reason, it accounts  for the lowest average commute, with 75 km as the national average.

The survey also indicates the great impact of the search for higher-education courses in Brazil, with different hubs taking the first positions with similar attractiveness. The average commute was of 92 km. The Population Arrangements of Belém/PA, Salvador/BA and Teresina/PI are the biggest city-hubs in terms of higher education, while Sobral/CE, Viçosa/MG and Santa Maria/RS stand out due to the  much higher attractiveness for higher education than other interests.

In the search for cultural activities, which includes concerts, festivities, festivals, cinema, theater and museums, the national average distance of commute was the lowest among all REGIC 2018 themes, with only 67 km, which shows that those activities are easily found both in big and peripherall cities.

Regarding sport activities, the average distances are bigger: 73 km, with North and Central-West Regions (123 km and 103 km, respectively) as the biggest and Southeast and Northeast Regions (67 km and 61 km) as the smallest. The city of São Paulo/SP is the biggest hub for cultural and sport activities, however, Parintins (AM) and the Population Arrangements of Cabo Frio/RJ and Ribeirão Preto/SP draw attention for their much higher attractiveness than their general one. For sport activities, Porto Alegre/RS, Rio de Janeiro/RJ and Recife/PE presnte a much higher attractiveness than the general rate.

Commute for trade and health services

Regarding the population commute for health services, the data was early released in April 7 of 2020, to help on public policies, planning and logistics to fight against Covid-19.

On average, the population travel 72 km to get medium and low complexity health care, such as medical and dental consultations, clinical exams, orthopedic and radiological services, physiotherapy and minor surgeries, among other services that do not require hospitalization.

Manaus (AM) is the city that receives patients from further distances that need to travel, on average , 418 km. Goiânia/GO receives patients from the highest number of cities, total of 115. Santa Catarina (SC) is the only state where the average commute rate is under 40 km, the lowest in Brazil.

Regarding the search for high-complexity treatment, population travels, on average, 155 km. Those specific treatments are expensive and involve hospitalization, surgeries, exams, such as magnetic resonance and tomography, and cancer treatments.

Roraima and Amazonas recorded the highest average commute, 471 and 462 km, respectively, followed by Mato Grosso, with 370 km.

The lowest average commute was in Rio de Janeiro, with 67 km. The metropolis shares the patients with the Population Arrangements of Campos do Goytacazes/RJ, Volta Redonda-Barra Mansa/RJ and the municipality of Itaperuna (RJ), besides the nearest cities of Minas Gerais, as Muriaé (MG).

In trade, the data were also disclosed beforehand on April 7, 2020. The average travel for the purchase of clothing and shoes was 78 km, but showed very different patterns regionally. While in the North Region, polarized by Manaus (AM) and Belém/PA, the distances to be covered for the acquisition of clothing and shoes, on average, exceed 160 km (with the exception of Tocantins, which follows the average of 85 km to 95 km from its neighboring states Maranhão, Piauí and Bahia); the commute in the states of the Southeast Region and most Federation Units of the South and Northeast Regions are around 50 km to 75 km. The largest average commute occurs in Amazonas, with 342 km, almost exclusively towards the state capital. The smallest is in Santa Catarina, where the profusion of existing intermediate hubs (Regional Capitals, Sub-Regional Centers and Zone Centers) generated an average linear commute of only 36 km. São Paulo/SP is the largest centrality, but Goiânia/GO, Caruaru (PE) and Feira de Santana (BA) stand out for having an attractiveness for the clothing and footwear trade far superior to the general attraction they exercise.

Regarding the market of furniture and household appliances, the average commute towards urban centers was lower than for wearing apparel and footwear: 73 km. The result reflects the e-commerce influence. As the survey investigates the physical commute, the cities with biggest market influence near to the home municipality prevail. In the rank, São Paulo (SP), has the highest centrality, however Feira de Santana (BA) and Manaus (AM) also stand out due to the attractiveness in the trade of furniture and household appliances much above their average rate. The 2018 REGIC also surveyed the origin of the print ewspapers circulating locally. In 41% of the cities, the absence of newspaper from other cities circulating locally was among the main results. São Paulo/SP led the high centrality in this theme, indicating that its newspapers are the most widespread in the territory.

Survey also shows commute and cities’ attractiveness in agricultural activities

The survey also shows the commute and the cities attractiveness in agricultural activities. In the result, it is worth highlighting the protagonism of cities in the Central-West Region and the role of Metropolises and Regional Capitals in articulating the destination of agricultural production, by supply centers and other means of distribution.

For acquisition of inputs for production, São Paulo/SP leads the attractiveness rank, followed by Rondonópolis (MT) and Sorriso (MT). Moreover, for the acquisition of machinery and implements for agricultural production, Goiânia/GO is at the top of the rank. São Paulo/SP and Rio Verde (GO) are the next two.

The survey also shows the main centralities for technical assistance for agricultural production. The highlighted capitals of Central-West region: Sorriso (MT), Campo Grande (MS) and Goiânia (GO) lead the rank. In terms of the destination of agricultural production, the Population Arrangements of São Paulo/SP, Porto Velho/RO and the municipality of Campo Grande (MS) are in the top three positions.