Smart cities and the pandemic: Digital technologies on the urban management of Brazilian cities

Abstract

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.