Abstract Issues involving the planning and management of urban spaces are directly related to the transportation system. There is an interdependence between urban growth and the demand for mobility, in such a way that transport deficiencies directly interfere with the daily life of the population. Based on spatial analysis methods and the use of tools available in GISs, the relationship between the level of centralization and the attractiveness exerted by the central area was evaluated in Belo Horizonte, based on trips identified in the last two surveys, origin and destination. Unlike the studies that suggest a strong process of decentralization and rupture of the traditional center-periphery model, the results presented in this paper indicate that the spatial structure of Belo Horizonte has remained highly concentrated in the central area, although new influxes seem to converge to new centralities in the city.