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This paper highlights the contribution of the localities, or communities, to the configuration of the urban network in the Brazilian Amazon. The theoretical framework is based on the extended urbanization concept, comprising spatial units with different territorial occupation typology. It is presented a study of the communities located in the southwestern part of the state of Pará as nodes of an urban network on a local scale. Besides the characterization and hierarchy, it was also verified if the nodes classification varies according to the spatial context: communities inside or outside a conservation unit (UC); or located along rivers (riverside) or roads (roadside). From 2009 to 2015, annual field trips allowed the characterization of 236 communities regarding the population origin and organization, the presence of urban infrastructure and equipment, the access to health and education services, and the land use forms, that were summarized in 28 variables. The multivariate statistical evaluation (Hotelling's T² test) indicated that communities inside an UC presented variables mean values significantly different from those outside. This emphasizes the importance of land use regulation for general community conditions. The fuzzy inference for statistical groupings analysis indicated five clusters, ranked according to the communities' conditions from best (Fuzzy 1) to worse (Fuzzy 5) conditions, identified by the variables. These clusters were described and evaluated considering their temporal evolution, geographical distribution and the variables importance, and were also compared to previous studies. The higher frequency of roadside communities in cluster Fuzzy 1, in opposition to the higher frequency of riverside communities in Fuzzy 5 and Fuzzy 2 (of intermediate conditions) indicated that roadside communities were better structured than riverside ones. These results portray the communities as elements of common and particular aspects, in a hierarchical typology of their attributes, providing useful information for the definition of regional conservation and sustainability policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazilian Amazon, even though internationally known for the exuberance of its natural ecosystem and its traditional communities, has been undergoing intense urbanization process, which is leading to significant population growth of intermediate cities of regional urban network, among other consequences. This study aims to investigate whether this urbanization, like other cities in Brazil, is promoting urban sprawl or not in an important sub-regional center in the Amazon region, Altamira, seeking to identify factors that contribute to the occurrence of the phenomenon. It also aims to determine whether, in this process, there is some significant change in the configuration of intra-urban structure of the city. The review of literature found that the research on urban sprawl is already significant in large cities, but it is still scarce in intermediate cities in the urban network, hence the importance of the contribution of this work to the literature on the subject. The empirical analysis was based upon the construction of a geographic information system (GIS), which integrated spatial information with statistical data from demographic censuses of 2000 and 2010, as well as field research. The paper concludes that there was intense process of urban sprawl in Altamira between 2000 and 2010 without significant changes in the configuration of intra-urban structure, and that the emphasis on horizontal real estate projects aimed at high-income families as the main cause of urban sprawl, needs to be reviewed in the case of intermediate cities. It is also necessary to give importance to other factors such as: the implementation of human settlements in the outskirts for classes of low and medium-low incomes; the new forms of urban mobility that are being used by families residing in these locations; and the effects of reducing the average number of people per household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]