This is how Curitiba has earned awards for initiatives such as a solar power plant built on a former landfill, a health appointment app, and community gardens on abandoned land. The term smart city generally applies to municipalities that address urban challenges in a sustainable, connected, and efficient manner.

Most recently, Curitiba was named Smartest City in the World in 2023 at Fira Barcelona and took first place in the Government Excellence Awards 2024 in the United Arab Emirates with Fala Curitiba, a public consultation program on budget allocation. The city also received the 2024 Pioneering Urbanism Award from Bilbao Metropoli 30 in Spain, the 2024 World Green City Award in the Netherlands for its Urban Agriculture Program, and the 2024 Seoul Smart City Prize.

Each year, the rankings of the “smartest cities” fluctuate, shaped by the criteria and methodologies of different organizations constantly seeking new innovations. Cities frequently cited in these rankings include Zurich, Switzerland, for its high-quality public services and urban planning; Oslo, Norway, for its environmental initiatives and public transportation; Canberra, Australia, for its digital infrastructure; and Copenhagen, Denmark, for its clean energy solutions. Other recurring names include London, Singapore, Helsinki, Hamburg, Stockholm, Geneva, Tel Aviv, and Dubai.

The World Smart City Awards, hosted at Fira Barcelona, are among the most media-visible events in the field. Curitiba took the top prize in 2023, following Shenzhen, China, in 2024 and Buenos Aires in 2022.

Rio de Janeiro also won the World Smart City title in Brazil in 2013, and it was recognized for projects such as the Rio Operations Center, Central 1746, and Porto Maravilha. “These achievements drive the development of innovative solutions that make the city safer, more efficient, and sustainable. The international visibility of these awards attracts investment, fosters strategic partnerships, and strengthens confidence in public management,” says Leandro Matieli, Rio de Janeiro’s secretary of the Office of the Chief of Staff.

Meanwhile, based in New York, the Intelligent Community Forum curates a ranking designed to encourage unconventional initiatives and produce distinctive results. Alongside Curitiba, the top seven cities selected in 2024 include Assaí, also in Paraná; Coral Gables (Florida) and Hilliard (Ohio) in the U.S.; the Durham-Fredericton region in Canada; and Yunlin, Taiwan.

Several other rankings assess smart cities worldwide, including Brazil’s Connected Smart Cities index. In 2024, Florianópolis claimed the top spot, followed by Vitória (ES), São Paulo, and Curitiba in fourth place.

Developed by Urban Systems in partnership with Necta, the ranking evaluates data and information from all Brazilian municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. However, the organizers note that even the ten highest-ranked cities have achieved just over half of the maximum points, indicating significant room for improvement in both their indices and overall quality of life.

Historically, Curitiba has been a testing ground for new technologies. Now, the city is exploring commercial and systematic drone delivery—and perhaps, in the future, even flying cars.

“Curitiba has always been a pioneer in transit innovation and has legislation that encourages such advancements,” says Marcos Ribeiro Resende, business director at Atech, Embraer’s division for new technologies.

“Drone delivery shifts logistics to another dimension—airspace. Curitiba’s advantage is its incentive-driven regulatory framework, known as a sandbox, which authorizes testing for urban mobility solutions, whether on the ground or in the air.”

According to the Pró-Paraná Movement, Curitiba’s recognition stems from its robust innovation ecosystem, supported by more than 700 startups and municipal policies such as a reduced ISS (Service Tax) for select technology-based companies—from 5% to 2%. The city also leads in digital public services, with initiatives like electronic medical records and early adoption of health video consultations, which have since expanded to other municipalities. “This was crucial during the pandemic, particularly for scheduling vaccinations,” recalls Mayor Eduardo Pimentel (PSD).

For him, an innovative city is both technological and creative. “I always highlight the Saúde Já app, where users receive test results and book medical appointments digitally—alongside our 208 urban gardens, which transform neglected spaces into productive land. The city council provides seeds; from there, the community comes together to grow healthy food.”

Eros Leon Kohler, coordinator at Lactec, an industry research center, sees Curitiba’s widespread adoption of 5G as a key driver of innovation. “It stimulates advancements such as intelligent public lighting systems and digital inclusion initiatives, including apps and strategically placed free public Wi-Fi points across different city regions,” he explains.

Mayor Eduardo Pimentel shares a similar vision. “I’m fully open to technology, and that’s how I want to keep Curitiba at the forefront of international innovation,” he says. For him, adherence to the city’s long-standing urban planning framework is crucial. “Every mayor who has strayed from the guidelines of the Urban Planning and Research Institute (Ippuc) hasn’t fared well.”

“There’s an intelligence behind Curitiba’s development that predates the radical use of technology,” says Marcos Domakoski, president of the Pró-Paraná Movement. “Since 1965, Ippuc has prioritized pedestrians and the historic center, guided the verticalization of structural corridors, created exclusive bus lanes, and expanded parks and public spaces.”

“Much of Curitiba’s success today—along with its ongoing challenges—stems from the 1970s, the decade when the city turned the corner,” adds Sérgio Czajkowski Jr., professor of strategic planning at UniCuritiba University.

The challenge now is maintaining Curitiba’s tradition of innovation without becoming complacent—especially with fierce competition for annual awards. Fira Barcelona’s ambassador in Brazil, Beto Marcelino, organizes the Smart City Expo fairs in Curitiba. Due to growing demand, this year’s event in March moved from Barigui Park to Clube Athlético Paranaense stadium.

According to Mr. Marcelino, cities must submit well-defined projects to international smart city forums. “The key factor is a public administration willing to present a project it deems significant. When selected, the city gains social and intellectual capital, earns a spot on the global stage, and attracts interest from investors, companies, technology industries, and development banks,” he explains.

Another advocate for Curitiba is Canadian John Jung, the creator of the smart city concept and president of the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), which awarded its top prize to the city in 2024.

“As an on-site auditor in various cities, I was inspired by Curitiba’s commitment and respect for people, the land, and the environment,” he says. Speaking to Valor, Mr. Jung recalls his connection with architect Jaime Lerner, the former mayor and governor of Paraná, who passed away in 2021. Since meeting him, Mr. Jung has encouraged Curitiba’s leaders to apply for international awards like the ICF’s and celebrate each city’s achievements.

Curitiba once carried the motto “ecological capital” before rebranding as a smart city. Today, the focus is on renewable energy, including the electrification of the bus fleet. But for sisters Maria Eugênia and Maria Júlia Fornea, that alone isn’t enough—people must also reduce their reliance on personal vehicles when unnecessary. Through their company, Weefor, the sisters are embedding this philosophy into their real estate developments in Curitiba’s prime areas.

Their buildings feature open, wall-free ground floors designed as active façades, integrating restaurants and stores that allow people to pass through—following the urban planning principle that movement fosters safety. “The smart city demands a rethink of mobility, with more walking and less driving, especially in neighborhoods with abundant nearby amenities,” says Maria Eugênia. As a social initiative, Weefor is donating bike racks to bus terminals in the cities surrounding Curitiba to encourage multimodal transport.

This initiative touches on a crucial urban challenge: the relationship between the city and its underserved population. Eros Leon Kohler highlights another persistent issue in many cities—the irregular occupation of land, particularly in areas designated for environmental preservation.

“In this context, projects like Bairro Novo da Caximba, which replaces precarious stilt houses with a planned and intelligent neighborhood, serve as strong examples of efforts to reclaim and enhance the urban environment,” he explains. “Another highlight is the Pirâmide Solar project, which transformed a former landfill into a clean energy generator by installing solar panels.”

For Rafaela Aparecida de Almeida, PhD in urban management and professor at Uninter, Brazil’s entrenched inequalities are even more pronounced in informal settlements, where streets are unregistered and zip codes nonexistent. “Residents can’t even receive Civil Defense alerts in case of storms, floods, or other environmental risks,” she notes. “This underscores the difficulty Curitiba faces in advancing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 10, which aims to reduce inequalities.”

For Ms. Almeida, despite initiatives like Wi-Fi Curitiba—which provides public internet access at strategic locations—the distribution of these services remains uneven. “In neighborhoods such as Tatuquara, Campo de Santana, Umbará, and Cidade Industrial, the number of free access points is significantly lower than in central areas, exacerbating the digital divide,” she says.

This disparity, she argues, limits access to education, digital public services, and economic activities that rely on connectivity. Additionally, inadequate infrastructure and a lack of suitable devices further hinder many residents from accessing the internet.

Due to this gap, Realize Hub’s director of operations, Victor Hugo Domingues dos Santos, believes Curitiba has yet to meet UNESCO’s challenge of becoming a MIL city—one with strong media and information literacy.

Still, he highlights positive initiatives, such as the free and continuous training programs offered by Bom Negócio, Curitiba Empreendedora, and Empreendedora Curitibana. “The nine Entrepreneur Spaces provide 991 daily services to Curitiba’s 210,000 registered Individual Microentrepreneurs, while the Empregotech and Empregotech 40+ programs offer workforce training in information technology,” he explains. The real challenge, he adds, is ensuring these advancements reach everyone—an issue that extends beyond Curitiba to Brazilian society as a whole.

One critic of the smart city narrative is Denis Alcides Resende, a postdoctoral researcher in strategic digital cities and professor at PUCPR. “There’s nothing wrong with winning awards,” he says. “But the city needs a more strategic approach. Mobility in Curitiba still falls short, particularly in terms of integrating bicycles, buses, and cars. Other critical areas—housing, sanitation, and healthcare—are severely lacking. Just look at the rising number of homeless people.”

“On one hand, we have awards recognizing technological intelligence, yet on the other, there is widespread poverty,” notes a critic of Curitiba’s development model. “The city undoubtedly has its strengths, with skilled professionals seeking technological solutions, but there is little investment in social programs—there’s a lack of balance.”

For Sérgio Czajkowski Jr., Curitiba’s most pressing urban planning challenges include urban violence, infrastructure improvements, and waste management, particularly in underserved regions. “The city needs to address population growth in the metropolitan area and focus on long-term sustainable development,” he says.

Looking at other cities that have won smart city awards provides insight into global innovations. Barcelona, for example, has a waste management system where specific trash bins connect to an underground pipeline, transporting waste directly to a vacuum incineration plant.

The city also operates an app that integrates all transportation modes—allowing residents to use a single card for buses, subways, bicycles, and even taxis. Beto Marcelino, director of government relations at the iCities consultancy, refers to this as “mobility 2.0.”

“In Curitiba, we still need to create more interconnection,” he says, citing examples like Shenzhen, China, where a unified card grants access to public services, and Buenos Aires’ Puerto Madero district, known for its advanced security model. “They have a surveillance system monitoring public spaces—Curitiba could implement something similar in its more than 50 parks,” he suggests.

He also highlights New York’s High Line Park, a former industrial rail line transformed into a thriving urban promenade, as an example of how neglected spaces can be revitalized. “If we consider cities using the Internet of Things in urban planning—often a key ranking criterion—Zurich, Lausanne, and Geneva in Switzerland, the Scandinavian capitals, as well as London, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai, all stand out,” adds Marcos Domakoski.

Inspired by Milan and Barcelona, Mayor Eduardo Pimentel aims to introduce permanent social rentals in Curitiba, allowing families to occupy vacant properties for extended periods. “This would repurpose abandoned spaces, stimulate the real estate market, reduce the Cohab housing waitlist, and prioritize structural corridors near transport hubs and health centers,” he explains.

Another initiative focuses on improving youth employability through expanded technical courses alongside investments in artificial intelligence. “We want to track dengue outbreak patterns in real-time and optimize traffic light operations,” Mayor Pimentel says. “And I want to install air conditioning in all municipal schools using solar energy from rooftop panels.”