Urban Structural Change and Complexity in Curitiba: following our own paths

Abstract

Studies on structural change in urban centers are few, mainly in Brazil and Latin America. Using the methodology of economic complexity in product and activity space, we carried out an analysis of the evolution of the productive structure of Curitiba in the period 2000 to 2021. The results show that the city has diversified in the last 20 years, but under different mechanisms when comparing the two spaces. In addition to illustrating the case, we show that its urban diversification, determined simultaneously by removals in industry and services, does not precisely follow or is consistent with recent literature that states that changes in large urban centers would be associated with the location of service companies. Curitiba has its own particularities, especially those linked to the industrial city established in the 1970s and which still produces path-dependence effects. Additionally, we maintain that it is not possible to evaluate the evolution of the productive structure on an urban scale by analyzing only one space, because each one reveals a different, therefore complementary, dynamic. Several theoretical points on urban development, productive structure and complexity are discussed throughout the text.