Overview

The aim of this study, entitled 'Territorial public policies: Inter-municipal co-operation and metropolitan management', is to discuss the shared governance of public functions of common interest to the municipalities of the Natal metropolitan region as a mechanism for developing public policies with a supra-municipal scope. The work summarised here describes the trajectory of the institutionalisation of Brazilian Metropolitan Regions, observing the different political moments and factors that have conditioned the current configuration of these spaces, as well as presenting the various problems that have arisen since the emergence of large population concentrations in urban centres. In order to discuss how to tackle metropolitan problems, it cites examples of national and international metropolitan governance structures to emphasise the different strategies adopted by each metropolitan region to tackle the same problems. The study also highlights the institutional structure of the Natal Metropolitan Region and points to articulation and co-operation networks between municipalities as possible solutions to the obstacles identified.