The regional dimension of smart cities in Brazil: urban networks, planning, and inequality

Abstract

The urban future is not confined to large metropolitan areas but is organised through networks of cities of different sizes, functions, and territorial positions. From this premise, this Thesis analyses how the smart city agenda is distributed, incorporated into municipal planning, and related to intra-regional economic inequality in Brazil. The argument brings the smart cities literature into dialogue with regional and urban economics by situating this agenda within Brazilian federalism, in which autonomous and heterogeneous municipalities form networks of centralities, dependencies, and economic and social flows. The first empirical stage constructs a composite urban smartness index for all 5,570 municipalities, based on 25 indicators covering the economy, society, environment, governance, and technology. The dimensions are estimated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis and generalised structural equation models, aggregated through Principal Component Analysis, and examined spatially. The second stage examines 1,236 Master Plans adopted or revised between 2010 and 2020, using dictionary-based textual analysis to measure the diversity of content associated with urban smartness. The third combines this documentary measure with a multi-period Difference-in-Differences design for 2013–2020, distinguishing between the initial adoption and revision of the Master Plan. The outcome is the municipal additive contribution to the intra-regional component of GDP per capita inequality, obtained through a nested decomposition of the Theil T index. The results show heterogeneous municipal profiles and spatial clustering in the selected smart-city-related conditions. The documentary analysis identifies uneven thematic coverage and different combinations of content across Master Plans. The econometric exercise provides suggestive evidence of a negative association between intensive new thematic incorporation in revised plans and the signed municipal contribution to GDP per capita inequality within Immediate Geographic Regions. This result does not establish a reduction in aggregate regional inequality or the effect of implemented smart city policies. Auxiliary outcomes describe changes in relative economic position, but do not identify the underlying transmission mechanisms. By integrating multidimensional measurement, documentary analysis, and regional evaluation, the study proposes a shift in scale for understanding the smart city not only through conditions observed within municipalities, but also through the institutional capacities associated with planning and the territorial relations in which municipalities are embedded.