The Shared Space: The Two Circuits of the Urban Economy in Underdeveloped Countries

by Milton Santos, Chris Gerry (Translator)

Originally published in 1979. In this forcefully argued book, Milton Santos shows that contemporary explanations of urbanization and spatial organization in underdeveloped countries are inadequate. This failure is attributable to their origins in theories elaborated to explain the development of advanced Western societies. Santos' work provides the basis for the new theory which is so badly needed. He describes the urban economy in these countries in terms of two circuits of activity - an upper circuit consisting of those enterprises and structures which are based on modern technology and are oriented towards the advanced capitalist world, and a lower circuit comprised of more traditional processes and forms of exchange. The dialectical interaction of these two circuits is seen to generate the patterns of growth, forms of State intervention and, above all, the spatial organization characteristic of Third World economies.

This was a revision and translation of L'Espace Partag� (1975).

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Milton Santos was a Brazilian geographer.

Milton changed his world, by studying and teaching, onto an impressive path. He studied and he taught in Europe, America and Africa. He turned the painful exile that the military dictatorship imposed on him for thirteen years into benefits. Milton Santos wrote more than forty books in several languages; his work became a reference for all those who intend to understand in a critical way the current world. He was such an optimistic thinker, before anything else, that he got to distinguish the new from the innovative, concepts that he radically differentiated.

A serious and combative geographer, he didn't spare anyone of severe criticism -- politicians, intellectuals, department friends, and even the more faithful students. Gray hair appeared in his last years, but the professor would always appear in long-sleeve shirts and red tie, dressed with the same seriousness with which he worked with knowledge.

Some of his books include "Por Uma Geografia Nova" (1978) and "A Natureza do Espaço" (1996). His work "O Espaço Dividido" is considered a geography classic: in it Santos develops a theory on urban development in underdeveloped countries.

Milton Santos won the Vautrin Lud International Geography Prize, which is the highest award that can be gained in the field of geography. The award is modelled on the Nobel Prize, and it is considered and colloquially called the Nobel prize for geography.