THEORETICAL-METHODOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE AND ANALYSIS PROPOSAL ON SMALL CITIES, LOCAL CITIES, SMALL LOCALITIES, MIKRIPOLITAN SPACE

This study aims to analyze and define the appropriate terminology for "small cities," "local cities," "small localities," or "mikripolitan space". To achieve this, one of the methodological procedures was a comprehensive literature review regarding the subject, highlighting key authors of Brazilian geography, such as Pierre Monbeig, Milton Santos, Roberto Lobato Corrêa, Tania Maria Fresca, and Ângela Maria Endlich. The study underscores the lack of available research on these geographical spaces. Monbeig (1957) argued that small cities warrant investigation due to their unique complexity. Santos (2008) also acknowledged the paucity of studies on these cities, accentuating their significance as entities comparable to large cities in developing countries. In Espaço e Método [Space and Method], Santos (2008b [1985]) expounded on how complexity increases as the scale of study diminishes. While Endlich (2017) reported an increase in academic production on small localities, she nonetheless observed that it remains insufficient. Data from the 2022 Demographic Census demonstrated that in 88.01% of Brazilian municipalities the population is less than 50,000, thus reflecting the importance of this topic. In order to exemplify, the study also proposes to analyze the network and the intermediate geographic region of Cascavel in the state of Paraná. Keywords: Small Cities; Local Cities; Small Localities; Mikripolitan Space; Geographic Region.