Towards Smart Florianópolis: What Does It Take to Transform a Tourist Island into an Innovation Capital?

Abstract

During the last several decades, the diversification of economic activities has become a paramount policy for nations and cities with heavy dependence on a single economic driver. Particularly island economies, relying mainly on tourism income, are among the most vulnerable ones to the shocks of global financial crises. In the recent years, some of these tourist islands had attempts to diversify their economic activities by moving towards a knowledge and innovation economy. This paper places one of these islands—Florianópolis, the capital city of the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina—under the microscope to address the question of ‘what it takes to transform a tourist island into an innovation capital’. In order to tackle this question, the study examines economic, social, spatial, and governance conditions and performances, along with the plans and processes of Florianópolis in moving towards an internationally recognized smart innovation island. The methodologic approach includes systematic review of the literature and qualitative analysis of the key development domains of Florianópolis through the lens of knowledge-based urban development. The results of this study provide insights into how to transform a resource-based economy into a knowledge-based one—by disclosing the transition journey of Florianópolis, including progress, challenges, and the new path creation processes. The findings are particularly useful for tourist islands that are aiming for an aspiring knowledge-based urban development and smart city transformation.

Leveraging Smart and Sustainable Development via International Events: Insights from Bento Gonçalves Knowledge Cities World Summit

“…KBUD has become increasingly popular as a planning and development approach for cities and regions interested in transforming knowledge resources into local smart and sustainable development [25][26][27][28]. By encouraging the attraction, development, and retention of intellectual and human capital, and by fostering innovation and knowledge dynamics, KBUD leverages urban transformation [21], advancing innovative capacities [29], diversifying the economic base [24], upgrading infrastructures [30], and improving quality of life [31]. Furthermore, KBUD can operate as a powerful, multidimensional, and integrated platform that facilitates the application of smart solutions at a practical level, without losing sight of all of the dimensions of sustainability [22].…”

O desenvolvimento urbano baseado no conhecimento como estratégia para promoção de cidades inteligentes e sustentáveis

“…Without the intention of presenting an exhaustive roll, since this was not an objective of the proposed literature review, some examples are highlighted to demonstrate the applicability of KBUD approach to Brazilian urban realities. Fachinelli, Carrillo and D'Arisbo (2014) Yigitcanlar, Sabatini-Marques, Lorenzi, Bernardinetti, Schreiner, Fachinelli and Wittmann (2018) carried out a qualitative analysis, through the lenses of KBUD, of the main development domains in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina state capital, in its trajectory to become an internationally recognised smart and innovative city. The results revealed that the city achieved relevant advances in terms of KBUD, establishing itself as a promising national innovation hub and, thus, diversifying, through knowledge-based activities, the city's economy so far focused on tourism and public services.…”

Aligning Urban Policy with Climate Action in the Global South: Are Brazilian Cities Considering Climate Emergency in Local Planning Practice?

“…Nonetheless, at the national level, the topics "climate change", "sustainable urban development", "public health" and "disasters management" are under the responsibility of separate Federal bodies, respectively, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Cities (the Ministry of Cities was terminated by President Jair Bolsonaro in January 2019-its former attributions have been partially absorbed by the Ministry of Regional Development, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications). There is roughly no common agenda specifically focused on urban climate policy, which results in the lack of consistent monitoring of the local policies, plans, programs and climate actions currently conducted by the Brazilian municipalities [72,73].…”