A produção da habitação e a diferenciação do espaço no arranjo populacional de Ribeirão Preto – SP

The objective of this research is to analyse and understand the operation of housing policies promoted by the State in conjunction with housing producing agents in small cities, in particular those located in the Immediate Geographic Region of Ribeirão Preto, state of São Paulo, Brazil. To conduct the research, small cities was be considered those classified as Local Centers and Zone Centers, according to studies on the “Regions of Influence of Cities" and “Population arrangements and urban concentrations in Brazil” (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, 2008; 2016; 2020). Access to social housing was be analysed in the face of household data, the analysis of housing policies in urban territorial expansion, and how this contributes to inequalities and differentiation in small cities, in the dimension of the city and the urban. The focus on small cities is justified because they are a predominant reality in the Brazilian urban network, and because of the relations of production of space that are configured regionally.