Dimensão Temporal e Sistemas Espaciais no Terceiro Mundo

Abstract

This paper deals essentially with the importance of the temporal dimension in analytical considerations of space. The notion of "space" is in fact inseparable from the notion of 'systems of time' At any given moment in local, regional, national, or world history, the action of different variables depends upon prevailing conditions in the corresponding temporal system. Consequently, any one variable can only be considered within the system to which it belongs, since its significance changes along time. Likewise, no variable can be considered alone, given that space is the result of the geographical arrangement of a set of variables and of their localized interaction. Moreover, the succession of temporal systems, corresponding on a world scale to historical periods,coincides with the succession of modernizations. The latter can be divided into five distinct periods and this periodization can be used not only to explain spacial distribution patterns of the most varied events, but also to provide the key to understanding place to place difierences within the underdeveloped world.