Indicators associated with smart and sustainable cities in the border zone of the municipalities in the southwest of Paraná and the extreme east of Misiones

Abstract

The growing degree of urbanization and population concentration in large cities and urban centers bring important challenges to small and medium-sized Brazilian municipalities, which have seen an outflow of their human capital, especially in the age group between 20 and 40 years, generally in search of better job opportunities. The dispute to attract this workforce has strengthened interest among public managers in the adoption of urban brandings, such as the concept of Smart and Sustainable Cities. On the other hand, small municipalities also started to look at such strategies, seeking to retain their human capital, as well as attracting people who seek better quality of life and security. The objective of this study is to investigate the existence of indicators that are related to the design of Smart and Sustainable Cities in the territory of the Border Zone of southwest Paraná (Brazil) and extreme east of Misiones (Argentina). To this end, an exploratory research was carried out, developed from the collection of data from secondary sources, outlined through a bibliographic survey, with qualitative analysis. The identification of relevant indicators proved to be challenging, especially due to the heterogeneity, dispersion and presentation of data only on a global basis, and not separately by municipality. At the end of the study, one can see the need for better coordination between the municipalities in the sense of producing indicators, in a similar way to other regional integration initiatives.