Those who can give orders, do so; those who are smart, obey: an anarchist critique of neoliberal <smartness= in the context of smart cities

Smart cities are a growing urban trend, yet their definition remains elusive, often shaped by the interests of their project designers. Although smart cities did not originate in the Global South, they became a current discussion in Brazil, presented as a necessity for cities to compete for investments. In 2018, a group of local associations along with the Florianópolis City Hall in southern Brazil launched the “Smart Floripa” reports. This research aims to provide a critique of the conceptualisation of “smartness” implied in the reports, informed by anarchist theory and critical geography, uncovering it as a rhetorical move in conflicts concerning urban policies and principles of sociopolitical organisation. As method, we chose a documentary analysis of two reports: “Smart Floripa 2030: transforming Florianópolis into a smart city” and “Smart City Florianópolis: the journey to creating the innovation path of a tourist island”. We begin the article by considering neoliberalism and its impacts on Brazilian municipalities. We then discuss smart cities and the Smart Floripa reports, which reinforce neoliberal urbanization policies, verified by critical literature as an urban development paradigm. We conclude with remarks on the meaning of neoliberal “smartness”.