A evolução do conceito de rede urbana:

tensões ontológicas e a mediação didática na Educação geográfica

Abstract

This article analyzes the ontological and methodological evolution of the urban network concept and its direct implications for Geography Education. Based on a theoretical review grounded in Critical Geography, with an emphasis on the formulations of Milton Santos and Roberto Lobato Corrêa, the study questions the transition from classical locational models to the contemporary understanding of geographic space structured by the logic of the technical-scientific-informational milieu. Methodologically, it is shown that the analytical choice to investigate networks whether through flows, social cartography, or multiscalar analysis is not neutral, but reflects profound assumptions about totality and socio-spatial inequality. In the pedagogical sphere, it is argued that overcoming merely descriptive teaching demands rigorous didactic mediation. Anchored in the constructivist perspective and historical-cultural psychology, the text advocates that it is the teacher's role to mediate knowledge construction. By starting from the student's concrete experience in their lived place, the teacher enables the unveiling of the contradictions of urban space, contributing to the formation of individuals capable of critically reading and intervening in current territorial asymmetries.