Smart Porto Alegre: case study of a neoliberal urban restructuring

Abstract This qualitative sociological research explores the impact of the smart cities agenda based on regulatory adjustments and urban projects that influenced practices and representations in Porto Alegre/state of Rio Grande do Sul between 2010 and 2024. Grounded in Urban Critical Theory, the study analyzes primary and secondary data that enabled to describe this agenda as an overview of initiatives and investigates how it has been conducted in the city through a pro-innovation coalition. This coalition appropriates the smart city agenda as a strategy to integrate the city into financial-digital flows in the new round of capital accumulation and to intensify the neoliberalization model of urban space.