The urban dynamics of financial services: centralities in the metropolis

The objective of this paper is to develop arguments that compare the dynamics of financial capital and urban space. It is first argued that financial services follow a concentration-centralization logic, with highly specialized services being offered at central places in urban space, and less complex services with a more dispersed pattern. This characteristic simultaneously promotes a centralized-deconcentration effect on the urban structure: the dispersal of services and urban amenities reduces transport costs and improves urban balance in a few places, while complex services are usually highly centralized, therefore promoting unbalanced (centre-periphery) urban development. In order to understand the balance between these two effects, this paper proposes a preliminary investigation that examines the localization of banks, income and other socioeconomic features in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, in Brazil.