Transamazon highway : a cultural-ecological analysis of settlement in the humid tropics / Nigel John Smith.

Tese (Ph.D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 1976.

In 1970, the Brazilian government embarked on an ambitious project to settle 100,000 families along the pioneer Transamazon highway by 1976. To accomodate the colonists, the government proposed a unique settlement plan (urbanismo-rural) calling for the construction of small towns (agrovilas) every 10 Km along the 3,000 Km rain forest highway. Agrópoli and rurópoli, larger administrative and manufacturing centers in the rural-urban hierarchy, were to be built every 100 Km and 400 Km respectively. The genesis of the settlement plan is described and the results are analysed by focusing on the cultural and ecological factors influencing the settlement pattern and agricultural productivity during the first four years.