Urbanization has altered the distribution of diseases of public health importance along gradients of human occupation. Adopting dichotomous urban/rural categories to explain differences in the risk of exposure, as well as the prevention of diseases is insufficient. In this paper, we present the potential of representations based on the gradient perspective to characterize the living spaces of municipalities where malaria is endemic in northwest Acre. Inventoried data in 40 localities in the Mâncio Lima and Rodrigues Alves municipalities and information on land use and land cover obtained from the TerraClass Database were used to characterize the urban spatial forms and their social content. Results showed a gradient of intensities: from municipal seats to the most connected localities through the road network to riverine communities. Based on the results, we hope to advance the discussion about the use of normative definitions of “urban” and “rural” for public policies and actions to control and eliminate malaria, considering the position of each locality in its own locally referenced urban gradient.
Keywords: Amazônia; malaria; urban gradient; urban-rural linkages.