Concepts of region and regionalization: aspects of its evolution and possible uses to health regionalization

Abstract

This article aims to discuss some of the main definitions of region and regionalization established in human geography throughout the twentieth century, in order to find parameters for its use in the current debate on the regionalization of health. This reinterpretation allowed the proposition of three ways to understand the interface between region/regionalization and health: 1. A critical reconsideration of some concepts linked to the man/environment geographical tradition, to understand the current phase of "epidemiological transition"; 2. Reinterpretation of the geography of "urban networks" as an element in thinking about today's health care networks and the use of the "health industrial complex" as a mechanism to improve regional development ; 3. and lastly, the use of the concepts of region and regionalization originated from Marxist tradition to emphasize the material and immaterial aspects that underlie the formation of regions in the current period of globalization. From the methodological point of view, the main resource used in this article was a review of the literature on these issues.