Ranking connected smart cities: the performance of cities in the state of Santa Catarina from 2015 to 2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-8077.2025.e103259Keywords:
Smart Cities, Ranking, Connected Smart CitiesAbstract
Background: The development of cities must be a constant focus to provide essential services to their residents in the areas of health, safety, and education, and also to build technological advances to expand opportunities for businesses, companies, and jobs.
Objective: This study analyzes the performance of Santa Catarina cities from 2015 to 2023 according to the Connected Smart Cities Ranking.
Method: The methodology uses a quantitative approach with descriptive analysis of data from the Connected Smart Cities Ranking between 2015 and 2023.
Results: Of the 295 municipalities in the state of Santa Catarina, 7 meet the criteria of the general ranking and are among the 50 in the study. Regardless of population size, Florianópolis stands out as one of the top 10 Smart Cities in the overall ranking during the period studied, reaching 1st place overall in 2023. Following suit are Blumenau, Joinville, and Itajaí, alternating positions, followed by Jaraguá do Sul and Chapecó. The municipality of Balneário Camboriú is making significant progress in the ranking.
Conclusions: It became clear that Santa Catarina's city administrations need to be engaged to achieve results across indicators and sectors to achieve Smart City status. Urban Systems' methodology, in partnership with Necta, offers an opportunity for self-reflection at the city level, aiming to expand the value of public and private initiatives for their residents.
References
Afonso, R. A., Silva, W. M. da., Tomas, G. H. P., Gama, K., Alezy Oliveira, A., & Alvaro, A., Garcia, V. C. (2013). Br-Scmm: modelo brasileiro de maturidade para cidades inteligentes. https://doi.org/10.5753/sbsi.2013.5716
Baracho, R. M. A. (2020). Representação e gestão do conhecimento: aplicações em cidades inteligentes – Smart Cities. Perspectivas em ciência da informação, 252-279. https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/pci/article/view/22291
Boente, A., Braga, G. (2004). Metodologia científica contemporânea. Rio de Janeiro: Brasport.
Calgaro, C. (2020). Smart cities como alternativa para minimizar os problemas socioambientais das cidades brasileiras. Revista de Direito Urbanístico, Cidade e Alteridade. Issn: 2525-989X. Encontro Virtual. v. 6. n. 2, p. 114 – 128, Jul/Dez. https://doi.org/10.26668/IndexLawJournals/2525-989X/2020.v6i2.6927
Cunha, R. R. (2019). Ranking e indicadores para smart cities: Uma proposta de cidades inteligentes autopoiéticas. [Dissertação de mestrado, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Programa de Pós-graduação em Engenharia e Gestão do Conhecimento]. https://mobile.repositorio.ufsc.br/handle/123456789/215499
Deming, W. E. (1990). Qualidade: a revolução da administração. Rio de Janeiro: Saraiva.
Duarte, R. G. (2023). A abordagem quantitativa nos estudos sobre políticas educacionais no brasil. @rquivo Brasileiro de Educação, 10(19), 97–117. https://doi.org/10.5752/P.2318-7344.2022v10n19p97-117
Giffinger, R., Gudrun, H. (2010). Smarter Cities Ranking: an effective instrument for the positioning of cities? Ace: architecture, city and environment, v. 12, p. 7-25. https://doi.org/10.5821/ace.v4i12.2483
Kakderi, C., Komninos, N., & Tsarchopoulos, P. (2016). Smart cities and cloud computing: lessons from the storm clouds experiment. Journal of Smart Cities, v.2(1): 4.13. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/302978557_Smart_Cities_and_Cloud_Computing_Lessons_from_the_STORM_CLOUDS_experiment
Kummitha, R. K. R. (2020). Why distance matters: the relatedness between technology development and its appropriation in smart cities. Technological forecasting and social change, v. 157, p. 120087. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120087
Komninos, N., Schaffers, H. & Pallot, M. (2011). Developing a policy roadmap for smart cities and the future internet. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230730340_Developing_a_Policy_Roadmap_for_Smart_Cities_and_the_Future_Internet
Lui, M. L. C., Petarnella, L. (2020). As cidades inteligentes e os desafios para a implantação da garantia da qualidade de serviços. R. Tecnol. Soc., Curitiba, v. 16, n. 39, p. 182-198, jan/mar. http://dx.doi.org/10.3895/rts.v16n39.9586
Minayo, M. C. S. (2009). O desafio da pesquisa social. In: Minayo, M. C. S. (Org.). Pesquisa social: teoria, método e criatividade. Rio de Janeiro, RJ: Vozes. p. 09-29.
Moura, F., de Abreu Silva, J. (2021). Smart Cities: Definitions, Evolution of the Concept, and Examples of Initiatives. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95873-6_6
Meier, W. J., Ulferts, G. W., & Howard, T. L. (2011). Transforming city governments through it. The review of business information systems, fourth quarter, v. 15, n. 4. https://doi.org/10.19030/rbis.v15i4.6006
Paz e Silva, K. M., Muzzio, H. (2025). Proposição de indicadores para a cidade inteligente e criativa. Cadernos gestão pública e cidadania, 30, e91484. https://doi.org/10.12660/cgpc.v30.91484
Ronchi, C. C., Todaro, M. E. C., & Serra, A. R. C. (2024). Cidades inteligentes, pessoas inteligentes e desinformação. Revista de ciências da administração, 1(Especial), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-8077.2023.e96300
Sá, T. M. de. (2022). As cidades inteligentes (‘smart cities’): como a gestão inteligente de cidades pode contribuir para o desenvolvimento de cidades mais sustentáveis. [Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso - Faculdade UnB Planaltina, Brasília, DF]. https://bdm.unb.br/bitstream/10483/37693/1/2022_TalitaMartinsDeSa_tcc.pdf
Santa, S. L. B., Basil, D. G., Cembranel, P., Finatto, C. P., Guerra, J. B. S. O. de A., & Soares, T. C. (2024). Cidades sustentáveis, inteligentes e saudáveis: qual é o impacto da governação na saúde, nos transportes, nos espaços verdes e no ar? Revista de ciências da administração, 1(Especial), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-8077.2023.e96277
Schuler, D. (2001). Digital cities and digital citizens. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45636-8_6
Soares, C. G., Aquino, L. S., & Nunes, T. P. (2023). As cidades inteligentes (smart cities) à luz da lei geral de proteção de dados. Jnt – Facit business and technology journal. Nov. Ed. 47. v. 02. p. 458-474. https://revistas.faculdadefacit.edu.br/index.php/JNT/article/view/2649
Tsoumanis, G.; Formiga, J., Bilo, N., Tsarchopoulos, P., Ioannidis, D., & Tzovaras, D. (2021). The smart evolution of historical cities: integrated innovative solutions supporting the energy transition while respecting cultural heritage. sustainability, 13, 9358. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169358
Urban Systems. Ranking connected smart cities. https://www.urbansystems.com.br/pesquisas-e-publicacoes.
Washburn, D., Sindhu, U., Balaouras, S., Dines, R. A., Hayes, N. M., & Nelson, L. E. (2010). Helping Cios understand “smart city” initiatives: defining the smart city, its drivers, and the role of the cio. Cambridge, Ma: Forrester research, inc. https://public.dhe.ibm.com/partnerworld/pub/smb/smarterplanet/forr_help_cios_und_smart_city_initiatives.pdf
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Leandro Medeiros Elias, Maurício Fernandes Pereira
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The author must ensure:
- that there is complete consensus among all co-authors to approve the final version of the paper and its submission for publication.
- that their work is original, and if the work and/or words of others have been used, these have been duly acknowledged.
Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. RCA reserves the right to use software or any other methods of plagiarism detection.
All submissions received for evaluation in the RCA journal are screened for plagiarism and self-plagiarism. Plagiarism identified in manuscripts during the evaluation process will result in the submission being archived. In the event of plagiarism being identified in a manuscript published in the journal, the Editor-in-Chief will conduct a preliminary investigation and, if necessary, retract it.
Authors grant RCA exclusive rights of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons (CC BY) 4.0 International License.
Authors are authorized to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (e.g., publishing in an institutional repository, on a personal website, publishing a translation, or as a chapter in a book), with an acknowledgement of its authorship and initial publication in this journal.
This license grants any user the right to:
Share – copy, download, print, or redistribute the material in any medium or format.
Adapt – remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
According to the following terms:
Attribution – You must give appropriate credit (cite and reference), provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
No additional restrictions – You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
