BETWEEN CENTRALITIES, SUBÚRBIOS AND SUBCENTERS:

the distribution of movie theaters and the urbanization of the city of Rio de Janeiro (1905–1984)

Abstract

This article analyzes the spatial distribution of movie theaters in Rio de Janeiro
between 1905 and 1984 as an expression of the historical process of unequal production of
urban space in the city. Drawing on an understanding of cinema as part of the creative
industry and as an active agent in the production of space, the study articulates the geography
of exhibition venues with the dynamics of centrality formation, suburbs, and subcenters. The
research is based on data collected from the works of Alice Gonzaga (1996) and Raquel de
Sousa (2014), organized into two temporal periods and represented through density mapping.
In the first period, between 1905 and 1934, a strong concentration of theaters in the city
center is observed, reinforcing the economic, symbolic, and cultural centrality of that area,
with particular emphasis on Avenida Rio Branco and the Cinelândia district. In the second
period, between 1935 and 1984, movie theaters followed the expansion of the urban fabric
toward the suburbs and the formation of new subcenters — notably Madureira, Tijuca, and
Copacabana — in a movement that foreshadows the polycentric logic characteristic of Rio de
Janeiro's metropolitan formation and the process that Sandra Lencioni termed the
metropolization of space. Across both periods, the location of theaters reveals patterns of
fragmentation, hierarchization, and socio-spatial differentiation that permeate the city's
urbanization, confirming that cinematic venues not only reflect, but actively participate in,
the production of urban space.