Public policies, increase in land value and metropolization: the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte and the expansion of the industrial vector

Abstract The specificities of land in relation to other goods constitute unique processes of land value increase and land commercialization, in which the involvement of space production agents is a structuring element in the formation of prices. The State, one of these agents, plays a remarkable role, as it has the power to control the possible uses of land and, consequently, to induce activities and enterprises that generate capital attraction. This article discusses the relationship between the State’s action, the increase in land value and Belo Horizonte’s expansion, from its inaugural plan to metropolization, especially in the “west vector”, associated with industrial activities since the beginning of its expansion.