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The evidence for climate change and its associated consequences, such as severe droughts, floods, and storms, exposed the need to investigate the ways that countries can cope with them, especially Brazil, which is a continental nation. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the urgency to consider global uncertainties. To audit it, the Pondělíček method, an indicator of the general quality of urban greenery (IOKZM), was employed. This approach considers four factors to indicate if one city is sustainable: city altitude [m], average annual temperature [°C], average annual precipitation [mm], and the total greenery area [km²] per inhabitant per year. The outcomes demonstrate that, regardless independently of the Brazilian region, geographic localization, estimated altitude range, or precipitation range may not strongly influence the BIOKZM. The impact measured in the indicator is significantly influenced by the greenery areas in Brazil. Those estimated areas are much smaller than European Union ones. Teresina's Fkes demonstrates that if the greenery area is more than 5 (i.e., more than 50 percent), the IOKZM will be a positive outcome. The IOKZM calculated for Brazilian cities is interesting precisely because of their location in the southern hemisphere, as all the evidence of climate change subtly suggests that the climate in the southern hemisphere changes in a different way. Hence, this article can be used as an initial tool to assess whether the chosen Brazilian cities (Belém, São Luís, Guarulhos, Campinas, Porto Alegre, Teresina, and João Pessoa) can be considered "smart cities". It is a step towards guiding mayors and other public figures in charge to create and maintain smart cities in Brazil. In addition, further studies should be conducted to contribute to this collaborative effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project evaluation is a process that involves multiple decision criteria for different objectives and involves several specialists, becoming a complex decision-making process. In this sense, to reduce projects evaluation subjectivity in start-ups selection processes, this paper aims at structuring an evaluation model to select projects that present business models focused on strategies for smart cities. To test the proposed model, it was considered a smart cities project selection program in a medium-size city located on southside of Brazil. To do so, it was considered a multicriteria analysis method, in which relevant evaluation criteria for projects focused on intelligent cities were identified. Subsequently, Decision-Making And Trial Evaluation Laboratories (DEMATEL) method was used to weigh these identified evaluation criteria and, finally, TOPSIS method was instantiated to select the best alternative – the evaluated projects – among all alternatives. As a result, the multicriteria proposed model proved to be efficient in evaluating projects aimed at smart cities concepts, showing that the use of MCDA methods can minimise uncertainty and bias in evaluating projects in a quantitative approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the increasing urban development, it has become important for municipalities to permanently understand land use and ecological processes, and make cities smart and sustainable by implementing technological tools for land monitoring. An important problem is the absence of technologies that certify the quality of information for the creation of strategies. In this context, expressive volumes of data are used, requiring great effort to understand their structures, and then access information with the desired quality. This study are designed to provide an initial response to the need for mapping zones in the city of Itajaí (SC), Brazil. The solution proposes to aid object recognition employing object-based classifiers OneR, NaiveBayes, J48, IBk, and Hoeffding Tree algorithms used together with GeoDMA, and a first approach in the use of Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (R-CNN) and the YOLO algorithm. All this is to characterize vegetation zones, exposed soil zones, asphalt, and buildings within an urban and rural area. Through the implemented model for active identification of geospatial objects with similarity levels, it was possible to apply the data crossover after detecting the best classifier with accuracy (85%) and the kappa agreement coefficient (76%). The case study presents the dynamics of urban and rural expansion, where expressive volumes of data are obtained and submitted to different methods of cataloging and preparation to subsidize rapid control actions. Finally, the research describes a practical and systematic approach, evaluating the extraction of information to the recommendation of knowledge with greater scientific relevance. Allowing the methods presented to apply the calibration of values for each object, to achieve results with greater accuracy, which is proposed to help improve conservation and management decisions related to the zones within the city, leaving as a legacy the construction of a minimum technological infrastructure to support the decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public administrators, responsible for urban planning, face great challenges to organize and understand the large volume of data generated by cities. These are essential information for public policies. In this context, the present work aimed to analyze georeferenced data and urban parameters, focusing on improving processes related to the planning of sustainable and smart cities. Therefore, a case study was developed in Belo Horizonte. The data were analyzed based on guidelines prescribed by ISO 37.122/2019 and ISO 37.123/2019. The methodology adopted consist of identifying gaps, prioritizing urban parameters, as well as consolidating georeferenced data in a Web GIS platform to study urban problems. The analyzes led to study problems and parameters related to flooding and geological hazards (erosion and silting, landslides, groundwater contamination, and resulting from excavations) as well as their environmental and social causing and aggravating factors. After consolidating the data, it was possible to identify that the parameters (i) population density, (ii) minimum soil permeability coefficients and (iii) demarcation of preservation areas had a great impact when associated with environmental conditions (vegetation, use and occupation soil and topography). In this sense, this work contribute to improve methodologies for analyzing the urban environment with a focus on preventing and mitigating these problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is essential to visualize water scarcity as a result of an inappropriate process of appropriation and the use of natural resources. This understanding has been gaining more and more prominence in studies in Brazil and also in the world. In this context, this research aims to map the risk of water shortages and sewage insufficiency in a Brazilian semi-arid city using GIS-MCDA. The secondary data used in this research were collected from IBGE, Compesa, and the City Hall of Caruaru and were processed using the QGIS 3.12 Bucareşti software. The Pernambuco Tridimensional database and the Analytical Hierarchy Process method were used in the process to generate the maps. After collecting and analyzing the data, it was seen that, according to the water shortage risk map, seven neighborhoods had a "Very high" risk, in which the criteria with the greatest weight were the distance from distribution reservoirs, the main supply network and altimetry. The map of the degree of sanitary sewage insufficiency showed that four neighborhoods have a "Very high" degree; these neighborhoods are far from the main sewage network and from sewage treatment stations and have the lowest rates of households served by the system. Such characteristics need to be highlighted in the planning and implementation of water and sewage services. Thus, it is concluded that the use of high-resolution spatial databases for the planning of urban services, as carried out in the present work, provides a greater level of confidence for solutions that can be implemented in the expansion of service networks to the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective of the study: To analyze the influence of contingency factors (environment, structure, organizational size and organizational culture) on the 100 best-ranked Brazilian municipalities in the 2020 Connected Smart Cities Ranking. Methodology/approach: Data were collected from: Atlas of Human Development in Brazil (AtlasBR); Federal Administration Council (CFA); Brazilian Accounting and Tax Information System for the Public Sector (SICONFI); Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), and Superior Electoral Court (TSE). The data refer to the year 2019. The statistical methods used were normality and homogeneity tests, correlation and multiple linear regression, with the aid of the IBM SPSS Statistics Version 2.0 software. Originality/Relevance: It focuses on how contingency factors influence the implementation of smart cities, producing quantitative evidence from the dependent variable with the independent variables. Main results: Multiple linear regression showed that the selected variables explain 62.40% of what a smart city is. It evidences the positive and significant influence of the 'environment'; 'organizational structure' and 'size' contingency factors for cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. Theoretical/methodological contributions: The results contribute to the gap in empirical studies dealing with the contingency factors that affect municipalities in the sense of them becoming smart cities, and in the understanding of how these factors are related. Social/management contributions: The implications reach the definition of factors that affect public policies, development of public governance practices and citizen engagement for the implementation of smart cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities across the world are increasingly labelling themselves as smart in one way or another. At the same time, this smartness appears amorphous or invisible in its built urban environment. Critical researchers writing on the smart city regularly express confusion or exasperation about precisely the difficulty to locate the smart in the city. Visibility of the smart city is not a given. This article argues that visibility in the case of the smart city is instead strategically produced, and that the strategy opted for tells us something about the kind of urban imaginary put forward. The article introduces a provisional and non-exhaustive taxonomy of strategies of visibility based on analyses of three different cases of smart city projects (in Brazil, Sweden and Canada) and identifies the ways in which the smart city is made visible (or not)—symbolic presence of smart, modelling smart and ubiquitous invisible smart—and discusses what kind of city is envisioned based on each strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Smart campuses can be seen as the future of higher education efforts, especially for their contributions to sustainability and to encourage innovation. This paper aims to present the benefits of smart practices in a Higher Education Institutions and highlights its connections to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Design/methodology/approach: The methodology is divided into three steps: first, an international search and assessment of smart practices at universities; second, the identification of smart practices in a university campus in southern Brazil; and third, the presentation of the benefits of smart practices and their relationship with the SDGs. Findings: The results showed that globally, the area most covered by smart practices in universities is the environment and, specifically, focused on waste reduction. in the context of this case study, the benefits of implementing smart practices mainly reach SDGs 4 and SDG 9, especially due to aspects of teaching technologies for the new classroom models and the optimization of campus infrastructure management. Practical implications: The study encourages other universities to implement smart practices in their campuses, to becoming smart campuses while they also collaborate in achieving the SDGs while raising the discussion on the importance of committed actions taken on a university campus with the UN SDGs, to leverage synergies on campus operations at universities. Originality/value: This paper presents a set of smart practices that universities are applying both globally and locally (in southern Brazil). In addition, it contributes to sustainability research by showing how smart practices have the potential to promote SDGs in universities, especially through campus operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reflects on the limits and possibilities for articulating the anti-asylum struggle with participatory city master plans (PMPs) in Brazil with the aim of helping enhance anti -asylum care in liberty and guaranteeing the rights of people experiencing mental suffering. Departing from the premise that the city is neither a therapeutic nor a caring environment, this analysis seeks to weave together the challenges of "living in liberty" with urban planning policies guided by PMPs. To this end, we analyzed terms pertaining to the anti-asylum struggle and Brazil's mental health reform in the PMPs of the 15 highest-scoring cities in the Connected Smart Cities Ranking. The findings show that it is important for the anti -asylum struggle to dispute municipal urban policies in wider legislative arenas in order to promote further advances in deinstitutionalization and a transformation of the social place of madness, and guarantee the rights of people experiencing mental suffering in cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Management Analysis / Revista Gestão em Análise is the property of Revista Gestao em Analise and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Amazônia, Organizações e Sustentabilidade (AOS) is the property of Amazon, Organizations & Sustainability - AOS / Amazônia, Organizações e Sustentabilidade (AOS) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Estudios Gerenciales is the property of Universidad ICESI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the use of m-government applications for public services providing in Brazil. As a secondary objective, the paper aims to analyze the relationship between the use of m-government applications and development. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve the objective of this research, the 100 smartest cities of Brazil were selected and the mobile apps provided by their local governments were identified. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were adopted, including content analysis technique, chi-square test and regression analysis. Findings: The results show that mobile apps developed by local governments of Brazilian smart cities include information and public services access, health, education, security, tourism, water supply system, environment, among others. The results also show a positive relationship between apps downloads and development indexes. Social implications: This paper emphasizes the social side of information technology, showing that it can contribute to the implementation of more inclusive cities that respond to the needs and interests of their citizens. Originality/value: This paper presents empirical evidences of the potential benefits of m-government technologies for development in an emerging country. Moreover, it highlights how mobile applications developed by local governments may lead to a better quality of life of the population, considering a comprehensive approach of development that involves its economic, social and human dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brazilian electrical matrix is largely clean. According to Brazilian Energy Balance (BEN) 2020, the share of renewables reached 83% of the total matrix, with the prominent role for hydroelectric plants and a rapid growth of new renewables sources. Nevertheless, there are challenges to be overcome, such as easing the transmission and distribution networks, increasing the system's resilience, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and changes in the rainfall regime. Such problems can be solved, or at least alleviated, through the development of energy storage solutions. In this context, the article seeks to identify the state of the art of the situation of energy storage in Brazil and its main political, economic, technological and socio-environmental challenges. Finally, the article presents three Brazilian case studies that point out the main technologies developed in the sector. Energy storage will be an important part of the future global energy transition, which can be achieved considering the different needs and characteristics of each country for its realization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the infrastructures that allow the Australian Pentecostal megachurch Hillsong to expand into Brazil. Hillsong is a global religious phenomenon: it has branches in global cities, celebrities among its followers, and an award-winning worship band. Drawing on five years of multi-sited ethnography in Australia and Brazil, I analyse significant infrastructures – smart church buildings, hip soundscapes, and digital media – that enabled Hillsong to establish itself in Brazil. I show that such technologies comprise an architecture through which Hillsong's 'Cool Christianity' circulates. I argue that these infrastructures communicate success, excitement, modernity, and cosmopolitanism to young middle-class Brazilians who aspire to break with the local conservative Pentecostalism that caters for the poor. Here, I call for a focus on human and nonhuman actors and infrastructures that move religion across borders, and a special attention to how imagination and power differentials shape mobility and immobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Direito Internacional is the property of Revista de Direito Internacional and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Direito da Cidade is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The objective of this work is to identify, from the observation of the environment, possible contributions to the formation of legal guidelines for the Public Policies of Intelligent Cities in Brazil. The work is developed by exposing the general and conceptual criteria of the research, the central elements on Intelligent Cities, from an observation of the New Urban Agenda, BID Studies and the experience of Spain, to relate such descriptions with the programming of public law in Brazil. As a method for structuring ideas, the article is based on systems theory, observing how the knowledge of the environment can be coupled to the system of law. As a result, it is verified that the observation of the environment, especially of the documents and experiences researched, contributes to supply the absence of subsidies of the programming of Law in Brazil, pointing out legal guidelines about the purpose, competence and means to be observed in the production of public policies for Smart Cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of policies promoting smart meter adoption is essential to guide the transition towards sustainable use of resources such as water, electricity and gas, as well as inform smart-city initiatives. This article explores household preferences in terms of different smart meters and identifies the amounts that households are willing to pay for different smart meter configurations to monitor electricity, water and gas based on the features of their home including dwelling type, size and property value. To this aim, we employ a mixed multinomial logit model that accounts for the heterogeneity in customers' preferences for different smart meters. As a proof of concept, the proposed model is applied to a survey incorporating a discrete choice experiment carried out with 232 respondents in the Florianopolis metropolitan region, located in the south of Brazil. Our approach offers a number of advantages to facilitate the broader implementation of smart grid systems that would otherwise be overlooked using traditional approaches that rely on aggregated estimates for demand and willingness to pay for proposed schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 has been affecting the way of life in cities. The pandemic curve grows significantly in some countries, such as Brazil, requiring rapid responses from the public administration. This research, conducted in April 2020, characterizes the use of digital tools in adapting Brazilian cities to the pandemic in light of the concept of smart cities, presenting a panorama of the current situation. The results indicated that 83% of the cities surveyed used digital tools in measures to fight the pandemic, such as increasing social distancing and adapting public services. The concentration of initiatives tends to follow the geographic distribution of confirmed cases, i.e., digital tools are more used in places where the pandemic curve is more accentuated. Also, cities that are historically more open to innovation demonstrated a heavier use of digital technologies and strategies to fight the pandemic. Finally, the results indicate that the largest Brazilian cities follow, at some level, the trends of digital optimization observed worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an approach for allowing the transparent co-existence of citizens and IoT-compliant things in smart cities. Considering the particularities of each, the approach embraces two concepts known as social machines and data artifacts. On the one hand, social machines act as wrappers over applications (e.g., social media) that allow citizens and things to have an active role in their cities by reporting events of common interest to the population, for example. On the other hand, data artifacts abstract citizens' and things' contributions in terms of who has done what, when, where, and why. For successful smart cities, the approach relies on the willingness and engagement of both citizens and things. Smart cities' initiatives are embraced and not imposed. A case study along with a testbed that uses a real dataset about car-traffic accident in a state in Brazil demonstrate the technical doability and scalability of the approach. The evaluation consists of assessing the time to drill into the different generated data artifacts prior to generating useful details for decision makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Law & International Relations / Relações Internacionais no Mundo is the property of Relacoes Internacionais no Mundo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Technology parks promote science, technology and innovation through their components, such as high-tech companies, universities and incubators. They show a significant increase in the number of units, especially in emerging countries such as Brazil. Unlike the industrial and logistic parks that, due to functional requirements, have their pre-determined and standardized architectural and urban characteristics, technological parks have in the innovation, their main characteristic, the possibility of proposing more suitable spaces for urban innovation. The Roof Mosaic is an approach that seeks self-sufficiency in urban areas from the food-energy-water nexus, using rooftops to produce food, renewable energy and rainwater harvesting. The integration between technology parks and Roof Mosaic can be advantageous since their roofs have a lower slope and greater design flexibility than other parks and can, therefore, contribute to the sustainable development of cities. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the potential of technology parks when implementing the Roof Mosaic. A case study underway was used, which is the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) Technology Park (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). The results from the case study show the potential for: 100% food self-sufficiency using hydroponic production of lettuces and tomatoes, meeting the demands of approximately 3,300 people; 45.2% for energy generated from photovoltaic panels; and 43% for water reusing rainwater harvesting. The potential of avoided CO 2 emissions using rainwater for non-potable purposes, food production and renewable energy, presented of nearly 805 tons of avoided CO 2 equivalents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Direito da Cidade is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Curitiba, located in the south of Brazil and recognized as a smart city, stands out for its pioneering project of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. A smart city presupposes the existence of a smart mobility system. In this study, urban mobility was analysed based on the socio-technical transition of innovation and the multi-level perspective. From the history of urban planning in Curitiba we have developed a timeline of the initiatives considered as milestones towards the transition to smart mobility and proposed a reflection about socio-technical innovation approach applied to smart urban mobility. We perceive small incremental and continuous advances that can bring positive results over time. To observe how this transition process is taking place in practice, we presented an illustrative case that points to niche innovations that put pressure on the current socio-technical regime. Emerging niche technologies, along with other social and technological innovations, can lead to transition. Abbrevations: BRT - Bus Rapid Transit; MLP - Multi-level Perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of urban population is widely acknowledged to be a central trend that poses challenges for the administration of cities worldwide. In this context, several advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been developed to gradually transform urban centers into smart cities. In this article, we seek to contribute to filling a knowledge gap in the literature on smart city -- namely the lack of empirical data in works on this subject -- by investigating a project aimed at turning the municipality of Búzios in Brazil into a smart city, named Cidade Inteligente Búzios (CIB). Our objective is, thus, to describe and understand the controversial influence of the context in the implementation of the project, which was considered a success for some actors and irrelevant for others, a situation that defies the very concept of success in the implementation of smart cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Direito da Cidade is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study investigates the infrastructure characteristics and use of information and communication technologies of Brazilian municipalities reflecting on the possibility of developing e-government and smart cities actions. A quantitative study of cluster analysis, using data from the research "Munic 2014", identified four clusters: the Technologyless, the Concerned-on citizen, the Concerned-on legislation, and the ICT Supported, that suggest different courses of action in ICT. Each group of municipalities presents different needs for the development of e-government and smart cities actions that indicate the need for specific actions for each of the four clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several adaptive systems have been proposed that are based on the concepts of smart cities, which can be successfully adapted to natural disasters or other public safety concerns. Since these systems are embedded in a critical and dynamic environment, it is really important to have an infrastructure that is capable of providing real-time environmental information. This paper discusses two research questions that arise from adaptive ubicomp systems: ( i ) what are the key requirements to provide a reliable WSN-based system (e.g. a river monitoring system)? and ( ii ) how can an adaptable and reliable WSN-based system be developed? This paper seeks to respond to the former question with the aid of the RESS standard platform. The latter question is answered by employing a generic approach for adaptation. The term “critical systems”, means that any error may result in the loss of human life. We devised the RESS standard after deploying the WSN-based river monitoring system in Brazil for five years. Our prototype underwent several trials, sometimes leading to failure or damage, before we came up with a more reliable solution, which is outlined in this article. Finally, while our RESS platform is policy-free, it is extensible/adaptable and hence can naturally be adapted to new policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Se presenta una introducción en la que el autor comenta sobre los artículos en este número, incluyendo uno sobre territorios inteligentes, uno sobre empresas de software en México y uno sobre el desarrollo regional en Brasil.

Due to the increasing urban development, it has become important for municipalities to permanently understand land use and ecological processes, and make cities smart and sustainable by implementing technological tools for land monitoring. An important problem is the absence of technologies that certify the quality of information for the creation of strategies. In this context, expressive volumes of data are used, requiring great effort to understand their structures, and then access information with the desired quality. This study are designed to provide an initial response to the need for mapping zones in the city of Itajaí (SC), Brazil. The solution proposes to aid object recognition employing object-based classifiers OneR, NaiveBayes, J48, IBk, and Hoeffding Tree algorithms used together with GeoDMA, and a first approach in the use of Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (R-CNN) and the YOLO algorithm. All this is to characterize vegetation zones, exposed soil zones, asphalt, and buildings within an urban and rural area. Through the implemented model for active identification of geospatial objects with similarity levels, it was possible to apply the data crossover after detecting the best classifier with accuracy (85%) and the kappa agreement coefficient (76%). The case study presents the dynamics of urban and rural expansion, where expressive volumes of data are obtained and submitted to different methods of cataloging and preparation to subsidize rapid control actions. Finally, the research describes a practical and systematic approach, evaluating the extraction of information to the recommendation of knowledge with greater scientific relevance. Allowing the methods presented to apply the calibration of values for each object, to achieve results with greater accuracy, which is proposed to help improve conservation and management decisions related to the zones within the city, leaving as a legacy the construction of a minimum technological infrastructure to support the decision.

Building on the understanding that the representations that underpin slum policies play an important role in the management and reproduction of informality, the aim of this paper is to identify some of the representations used in the governance of slums through two case studies: the upgrading policies of Rio de Janeiro's favelas , Brazil, and the governing of Stellenbosch's informal settlements, South Africa. Slum policies are influenced by the use of technologies, defined in this paper both as accounting techniques that stabilise the representations of informality and as technological artefacts used as means of intervention. Results show that the representations of slums used in the policies analysed contribute to the reproduction of informality by (i) representing slums as places of uncertainty and uncontrollability, (ii) affirming the need of experts and technical knowledge to correct the material, legal and knowledge deficits through which slums are represented, and (iii) focusing on the individual and household level and disregarding the relational character of poverty. These representations are influenced by sociotechnical imaginaries of sustainable and smart cities, through which the social orders that produce informality and social exclusion remain unquestioned. • Representations play an important role in the definition of informality as an object of governance. • Slums are represented through uncertainty, uncontrollability and deficit representations. • Representations are embedded in broad socio-technical imaginaries of sustainable and smart cities. • Critical scholarship on slum policy needs to be critical about its own use of representations of slums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A multidimensional assessment of cities from the aspects of a smart and sustainable city is proposed • The proposal is based on a sorting multicriteria approach • The applicability of the proposal was illustrated by an application to Brazilian capitals • This study can serve as a support tool in the decision process for practitioners and researchers The concept of a smart and sustainable city refers to a city that uses information and communication technologies (ICTs) and other means to improve the quality of life and urban services in order to meet the current and future needs. The main objective of this research is to propose a multidimensional assessment of cities from the aspects of a smart and sustainable city, through a sorting multicriteria analysis. Therefore, the model developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) was adapted and the FITradeoff method was used because it requires only partial information. The applicability of the proposal was illustrated by an application to Brazilian capitals. The results show that there is weakness on the part of the Brazilian capitals in relation to their access to and development of technology, innovation, local attractiveness and economic issues. Moreover, the capitals of the Northeast region of Brazil have lower performance compared to the cities of the South, Southeast and Midwest regions. Finally, this study can serve as a support tool in the decision process for managers, city planners and private sector entities seeking development strategies in relation to the theme, as well as helping to mitigate the gap found in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the theme of accessibility and digital inclusion in Brazil, having as research territory the city of Campo Grande in Mato Grosso do Sul, which is compared to the city of Busan in South Korea. The research's objective is to investigate the main differences between the two countries, regarding investments in accessibility and digital inclusion in the respective cities, and its consequences for the society and economy. Using a descriptive–comparative methodology, the data surveyed were used to describe the quality of services offered in each city. As for the results, they converge to the fact that the benefits of technology and governance in tune with education and societal needs, improve competitiveness rankings of the country, besides promoting the improvement of social relations and economic growth. • Comparison between Brazil and South Korea. • Differences in competitiveness between Brazil and South Korea. • The challenges of development in Brazil and Campo Grande. • How Campo Grande can become a smart city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concentration of housing in the urban area and the strong population growth, implies adapting the cities to meet the people's Quality of Life minimum. In this sense, smart cities present themselves as a viable solution to aggregate public resources, human capital, social capital and information, and communication technologies, to promote sustainable development. In this context, this research aims at analyzing the influence of the factors of Smart Governance on the Quality of Life in the context of the smart cities. This study is characterized as quantitative research, of a descriptive nature, made possible by means of a survey applied to 829 inhabitants of a city in the Northeast of Brazil. For the analysis of the data, we used multivariate data techniques, with the application of Structural Equation Modeling methodology. This study aims to analyze the influence of Smart Governance factors on Quality of Life in the context of smart cities, in the Northeastern region of Brazil. To that end, Transparency, Collaboration, Participation and partnership, Communication and Accountability on Quality of Life relationships were measured. The results of the research indicate intense and important relations among the constructs. Among the research findings, we highlight the identification of strategic drivers that can help the smart city rulers in the development of public policies and actions of the municipal executive that involves the population to achieve sustainable development goals. It is noteworthy that the research findings contribute to improving the governance of smart cities, in order to improve citizens' quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper pursued to evaluate the residents' evaluation on the smart sustainable city and the sense of community. The study analyzed interviews with 392 citizens from five neighboring cities from a micro-region in southern Brazil. Factorial analysis and linear regression were applied. The investigation recognized three factors for smart sustainable cities evaluation: public services and facilities; material well-being, and environmental well-being. Linear regression reveals that residents' satisfaction with the city is predicated on the material well-being, public services and facilities, environmental well-being, and sense of community, which explain 40.2% of satisfaction with the city. Considering a smart sustainable city viewpoint, the study accomplishes that: (i) policies should be projected from the neighborhood standpoint, due to the facility of understanding shared values (ii) sense of community should be included in policies for smart sustainable city; (iii) the design of neighborhoods and cities should prioritize social interactions, with the view to build social capital and facilitate policies implementation. By integrating the smartness to sustainability approaches in the city context, this study intends to contribute to a major discussion on sustainable development, with special attention to residents' evaluation. Finally, the paper offers pertinent outcomes for urban planners and social researchers, by finding factors that influence the sense of community and residents' evaluation on their city and by offering elements for academic, political and debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is the biggest global threat of our time. As a signatory nation of the Paris Agreement, Brazil has made a climate action commitment, and expressed its nationally determined contribution to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 37%. The Brazilian population is highly urban, and Brazilian cities are mostly responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, and the worst effects of global warming are experienced in cities. Hence, the fulfillment of the Brazilian climate commitments depends on the active engagement of municipalities. Nevertheless, the Brazilian national government does not monitor local climate actions, and it is not clear how local urban policy is aligned with climate action. In order to bridge this gap, this study tackles the question of: "Are, and if yes how, cities considering the climate emergency in their local planning mechanisms?" This question is investigated by placing five major Brazilian cities under the microscope. The methodological approach includes literature review and applied qualitative analysis to scrutinize how climate issues and actions are factored in urban planning regulations to verify if and to what extent local policies contribute to the fulfillment of the Brazilian nationally determined contribution, and sustainable development goals. The results disclose that investigated cities have adequately incorporated climatic issues in their urban planning mechanisms. However, policy concentrates more on adaptation rather than mitigation, and policy implementation yet to be realized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good governance practices through electronic government (eGov) platforms can be suitable instruments for strengthening the outcomes of smart city policies. While eGov is the application of information and communication technologies to public services, good governance defines how well public authorities manage public and social resources. Contemporary public management views, such as 'new public service', include citizen participation as a critical factor to sustainable government in smart cities. Public services, in the age of digital technology, need to not only be delivered through eGov platforms, but also need to be coproduced with the engagement of social players, e.g., citizens. In this sense, eGov platforms act as digital commons, and conceived as digital spaces, where citizens and public agents interact and collaborate. In this paper, we presented the Municipal eGov Platform Assessment Model (MEPA), which is a model specifically developed to evaluate eGov platforms regarding their potential to promote commons in smart cities. The study applied MEPA to 903 municipal websites across Brazil. The results revealed that the majority of investigated Brazilian eGov platforms have only a low level of digital commons maturity. This finding discloses less citizenship coproduction, and fewer opportunities for city smartness. As the MEPA model offers public authorities an instrument to depict weaknesses and strengths of municipal eGov platforms, its adoption provides an opportunity for authorities to plan and manage their platforms to act as promoters of digital commons and citizen coproduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]