Infrastructure and regional integration: the conformation of the Santa Fe-Paraná road system between the connection of the Argentine Mesopotamia and the Central Bioceanic Corridor

Abstract

The notion of regional integration began to be promoted by the Latin American governments towards the middle of the 20th century, in the framework of the developmental program created around ECLAC. However, this integration, which at its origin evidenced a mostly political-territorial character, mutated towards an integration oriented in economic terms since the 1990s. Bearing this in mind, and depending on the importance that developmentalism gave to material connection infrastructures, the objective of this article is to examine the process of concretion of a set of road infrastructures planned between the 1960s and 1970s. In particular, the case of the Santa Fe-Paraná road system is analyzed, which was initially conceived as a support for the development and integration of the Argentine Mesopotamia with the national territory and, later, for the consolidation of the Central Bioceanic Corridor (Coquimbo-Porto Alegre).

Keywords

• integración regional, infraestructura vial, mesopotamia argentina, corredor bioceánico.