This unit focuses on the main productive activities that
take place in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Region.
These activities show different characteristics according to the type of settlement
they are surrounded by (namely, rural or urban).
In broad terms, primary activities (that is, productive processes
such as agriculture and cattle raising which are directly related to the existence
of natural resources). take place in rural zones.
On the other hand, secondary activities (mainly industrial
activities) take place in urban zones. They are oriented towards product elaboration
and tertiary activities (trading and services). Tertiary activities are intended
for exchange purposes and to give logistical support to all the other activities
and to population.
As will be seen in this unit, as cities in general and in
particular the Area Metropolitana de Buenos Aires (AMBA; Buenos Aires
Metropolitan Area) grow and expand, primary activities give way to urban spaces
because urban land offers better profitability in comparison with rural zones.
. .
As for industrial activities, a similar process takes place.
They tend to settle down in peripheral urban areas in order to balance accessible
manpower, supplies, and the intended buyers or recipients with reasonable
land costs, especially when dealing with large settlements that require extensive
tracts of land.
On the other hand, tertiary activities which are closely
related to population and thus to residential areas tend to remain in urban
zones (when they develop on a small and medium scale, that is). In many cases,
they occupy pieces of land and buildings that used to house industrial activities.
Large-scale tertiary activities normally take place in areas which are outside
the urban continuum but which are easily reachable by the highway network
that has been developed in the last few decades.
