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The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the strategic decisions, especially those focused on smart governance, that have been implemented by the cities of Buenos Aires (Argentina), Medellín (Colombia) and Mexico City (Mexico) and how they have impacted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Using a qualitative approach and a descriptive scope, this manuscript follows a multiple case study methodology that was primarily based on the analysis of archival records and documentation using pattern-matching and cross-case synthesis as analytical techniques.

Observed cities share three main characteristics when implementing smart governance strategies linked to SDG 16: technology-based solutions to solve recent and long-lasting societal problems; broad, diverse and active citizen participation; and a socio-technical approach toward smart governance and SDG 16.

This paper points out the linkages between smart governance and SDGs in emerging markets’ smart cities. The findings of this study indicate the need to promote socio-technical approaches – rather than merely technical perspectives – to achieve SDG 16. Hence, citizen participation, open government and co-creation initiatives are key to the promotion of more inclusive and solid institutions.

The most important contribution of this study is to identify the strategic initiatives developed by three leading smart cities in Latin America from the smart governance point of view and their relationship with the SDGs, which is useful because it contributes to expanding our understanding of smart governance from practical experiences.

El propósito de este manuscrito es identificar y analizar las decisiones estratégicas, especialmente aquellas enfocadas en la gobernanza inteligente, que han sido implementadas por las ciudades de Buenos Aires (Argentina), Medellín (Colombia) y Ciudad de México (México), y cómo han impactado en los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS).

Utilizando un enfoque cualitativo y un alcance descriptivo, este manuscrito sigue una metodología de estudio de casos múltiples que se basó principalmente en el análisis de registros de archivo y documentación utilizando la comparación de patrones y la síntesis cruzada de casos como técnicas analíticas.

Las ciudades observadas comparten tres características principales al implementar estrategias de gobernanza inteligente vinculadas al ODS 16: soluciones basadas en tecnología para resolver problemas sociales recientes y duraderos; participación ciudadana amplia, diversa y activa; y un enfoque socio-técnico hacia la gobernanza inteligente y el ODS16.

Este documento señala los vínculos entre la gobernanza inteligente y los ODS en el contexto de las ciudades inteligentes de los mercados emergentes. Los hallazgos de este estudio indican la necesidad de promover enfoques sociotécnicos -en lugar de perspectivas meramente técnicas- para el logro del ODS16. Por lo tanto, las iniciativas de participación ciudadana, gobierno abierto y cocreación son claves para la promoción de instituciones más inclusivas y sólidas.

La contribución más importante de este estudio es identificar las iniciativas estratégicas desarrolladas por tres ciudades inteligentes líderes en América Latina desde el punto de vista de la gobernanza inteligente y su relación con los ODS, lo cual es útil porque contribuye a ampliar nuestra comprensión. de gobernanza inteligente a partir de experiencias prácticas.

O objetivo deste manuscrito é identificar e analisar as decisões estratégicas, especialmente aquelas focadas na governança inteligente, que foram implementadas nas cidades de Buenos Aires (Argentina), Medellín (Colômbia) e Cidade do México (México), e como elas impactaram os Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS).

Utilizando uma abordagem qualitativa e um escopo descritivo, este manuscrito segue uma metodologia de estudo de casos múltiplos que se baseou principalmente na análise de documentos e registros arquivísticos usando correspondência de padrões e síntese de casos cruzados como técnicas analíticas.

As cidades observadas compartilham três características principais ao implementar estratégias de governança inteligente vinculadas ao ODS16: soluções baseadas na tecnologia para resolver problemas sociais recentes e duradouros; participação cidadã ampla, diversificada e ativa; e uma abordagem sociotécnica para governança inteligente e ODS16.

Este artigo aponta as ligações entre governança inteligente e ODS no contexto das cidades inteligentes dos mercados emergentes. Os resultados deste estudo indicam a necessidade de promover abordagens sociotécnicas – mais do que perspectivas somente técnicas – para o alcance dos ODS16. Assim, a participação cidadã, o governo aberto e as iniciativas de cocriação são fundamentais para a promoção de instituições mais inclusivas e sólidas.

A contribuição mais importante deste estudo é identificar as iniciativas estratégicas desenvolvidas por três cidades inteligentes líderes na América Latina do ponto de vista da governança inteligente e sua relação com os ODS, o que é útil porque contribui para ampliar nosso entendimento de governança inteligente a partir de experiências práticas.

Cities are becoming smarter and more optimized because of digital transformation, reducing costs, increasing safety, attracting investment, ensuring sustainability, and increasing viability. As a result of this optimization, they are becoming smart cities. Smart cities use the Internet of Things’ devices, such as connected sensors, lights, and smart meters, to improve infrastructure and design by gathering and analyzing real-time citizen data. In this research, different conceptions of smart cities and their interconnections with digital transformation are presented. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to analyze how digital transformation may help manage smart cities. As a result, a thorough and integrated evaluation of the SCOPUS database will be conducted in order to address the following questions: (1) What are smart cities? (2) What is digital transformation? (3) How does digital transformation help to manage smart cities? The results point out that technologies and digital abundance, which include artificial intelligence, blockchain, and Internet of Things, play a crucial role in managing a controlled and automated infrastructure in smart cities. These favor the development of suitable places to live, work, and have fun, with a better quality of life for everyone.

Smart tourism is a destination management approach that requires the buy-in of a myriad of stakeholders. Its many audiences and complexity demand the creation of meaningful brands to effectively position and communicate smart tourism initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to explore how smart tourism branding strategies have been implemented to communicate relevant values, benefits and attributes to industry stakeholders through institutional websites.

Based on a semiotic analysis of two smart tourism-related sites (destinosinteligentes.es and smarttourismcapital.eu), the research interprets the brand-related visual and verbal signs.

The findings highlight how brand elements embedded in websites communicate a brand identity and facilitate particular interpretations of smart tourism. Both brands use similar signs to promote a techtopian vision of smart destinations but employ different strategies to motivate stakeholder buy-in.

Smart tourism is currently largely embedded in overall smart city initiatives and finding tourism-specific examples online is difficult. However, the two selected websites reflect the brands of multiple destinations and permit a detailed analysis of meaning making. Future research can focus on how brand-related signs are perceived by different stakeholders.

Identifying the strategies and shortcomings of current smart tourism brands informs future smart tourism branding efforts and effective communication with smart tourism stakeholders.

Semiotics is a relevant but underutilized method to understand how smart tourism initiatives conceptualize “smartness.”

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the urban resilience capacity and its relations with the economic, social and environmental well-being in smart cities in the state of São Paulo (SP), particularly after the 2008 financial crisis.

Concerning its objectives, this study is characterized as descriptive. From the point of view of technical procedures, the research is bibliographic, and regarding data collection, it is documental. The approach of this research is quantitative, since it uses the statistical method. The sample was made up by 62 smart cities located in SP. The analysis comprised the period from 2010 to 2015.

The urban resilience pillars influence the economic well-being represented by the gross national product, in 58.8 percent, social well-being represented by the life expectancy of the residents of the smart cities, in 71.7 percent, and in environmental well-being indicated by CO₂ emissions, in 21.5 percent.

They are related to the researchers’ decision about the methodological design.

This study was limited to smart cities in SP listed in the RBCIH (Brazilian Network of Human Smart Cities), and may be extended to other cities in other Brazilian states.

How resilience dimensions related to economic, social and environmental well-being such as poverty, food security, health, well-being, education quality, climate changes, and the like, were measured, which can be investigated in future research studies.

Despite its growing popularity worldwide, the urban resilience pillars and their relationship with human well-being in smart cities in the national context are little investigated, making this research original.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

Studies examining public insecurity and tourism tend to develop their research from the tourist's perspective, thereby focusing on its consequences, which insufficiently and poorly contribute to the development process. With that in mind, the purpose of this study is to discuss the root causes of public insecurity and the urban development process surrounding tourism dynamics in Brazil's northeast region.

The complexity method was used to collect both documentary and normative data to understand the reality beyond the data on accommodations and vertical real estate developments over time. These data were organized in ArcGIS (version 10.5) and are discussed within the context of urban development, public insecurity and tourism theories.

The results of this study demonstrate that the relationship between tourism and public insecurity is rooted in discussions surrounding the urban development process, remodeled by the physical and symbolic dimensions surrounding the production of space. Nevertheless, the symbolism of tourism is not a constant when it comes to socio-spatial changes but rather acts as a physical and secondary dynamic throughout the entire reconfiguration process.

The findings of this study indicate that this study can be used for the elaboration of security policies in tourist destinations in Latin America that present high levels of violence, considering the discourses at implementing urban legislation.

Higher education institutions are widely known both for their promotion to education for sustainable development (ESD) and for their contribution as living labs to urban management strategies. As for strategies, smart and learning campuses have recently gained significant attention. This paper aims to report an air quality monitoring experience with focus on the smart and learning campus and discuss its implications for the university context with regard to ESD and sustainable development goal (SDG) integration.

The air quality monitoring was held at the main campus of University of Passo Fundo and focused on three pollutants directly related to vehicle emissions. The air quality index (AQI) was presented on a website, along with information regarding health problems caused by air pollution, main sources of emissions and strategies to reduce it.

The results showed how the decrease in air quality is related to the traffic emissions and the fact that exposing students to a smart and learning environment could teach them about sustainability education.

This case study demonstrated how monitoring air quality in a smart environment could highlight and communicate the impact of urban mobility on air quality and alerted to the need for more sustainable choices, including transports.

This paper contributes to the literature by showing the potential of a smart-learning campus integration and its contribution towards the ESD and the UN SDGs.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the intention of living in a smart city as from its characteristics in the individual perception by the young public based on the proposal of an expanded model.

The empirical research carried out herein was based on a survey, consisting of a sample of 380 valid questionnaires. Data analysis was carried out through multivariate quantitative approach using structural equation modeling, with estimation by partial least square.

In the model, it was possible to adapt all the characteristics of smart cities. The “environment” characteristic was the one that presented the greatest relationship in contributing to efficiencies that allow the migration of citizens and in reducing the environmental impact in the cities’ quality, and the “economy” characteristic was the one that presented the lowest relationship opening the opportunity that this concept can be more widespread within the economic agents and individuals for the society.

Finally, it is argued that efficiency in all characteristics will depend on the engagement of citizens in the innovation processes of public living in general. The smart city is distinguished from other typologies due to its success in the field of innovation, essentially depending on the collaborative process that is developed in environments that encourage discovery and idea generation.

The aims of this study is to put on the agenda discussions concerning the approach of sustainable goals and indicators, in terms of how they relate to each other and how to list their importance within a network of contemporary city management. From the millennium objectives experience, UN has launched the continuity of the development program, through the sustainable development goals (SDG), which have the purpose of giving support to local and regional governments for the 2030 agenda in local sphere. In the city context, sustainable development has also been approached in regulations, like ISO 37120: 2017 “Sustainable development of communities: Indicators for city services and quality of life”. These instruments have in common the concern of offering parameters of public services to citizens and promoting in a uniform manner both social and economic growth of the urban environment.

The present study aims to compare these two sustainable development tools by means of a documentary analysis and to analyze the feasibility of the proposed indicators and their qualitative evaluation goals to improve citizens’ quality of life.

The results suggest that the main urban challenges are related to unplanned urban growth and poor-quality public services, which generate a lack of commitment to enforce laws and to achieve sustainable development goals.

The study establishes bases for guiding the discussion to support managers and investors decisions to promote paradigm changes in the citizens’ life and in the way cities are planned.

Rising human aspirations leading to rapid urbanisation, amidst climate changes and other environmental pressures have aggravated the needs for better-focused sustainable urban development in general as well as for smart and sustainable cities in particular. Indeed, smart infrastructure (SI) development is a prerequisite for smart cities (SCs). However, inadequate funding and expertise for such SI development pose profound challenges that may be partially addressed by mobilising private finance and efficiencies through collaborative public–private partnership (PPP) models. This paper provides a holistic review and analysis of the relevant literature, as a basis for proposing such PPP models for developing SI.

A systematic literature review helped to fulfil the aim of this paper in the first phase of the underlying longer-term study. Authoritative search engines like Scopus and Web of Science indexed articles were reviewed and analysed, 85% of these being journal articles.

SCs that necessarily include SI are important in overcoming current urban challenges in developing and developed countries. Given shortfalls in traditional procurement and funding models, special PPP models are required for SI development. After identifying the relevant needs, drivers, barriers and challenges in different countries, a general indicative framework is developed to illustrate how the various interacting force fields can be harnessed to develop the envisaged PPP models that can complement non-PPP procurement models.

PPP for SI development is a relatively new, hence, under-researched topic. This desktop review and analysis provide a useful launching pad for the development of SI through overcoming the potential challenges in traditional procurement and financial models.