Sustainable Development and Socioeconomic Disparities: A Quantitative Analysis of Brazilian Regions Based on the SDGs

ABSTRACT This study examines patterns of socioeconomic inequality among Brazil's 26 state capitals and the Federal District, totaling 27 capitals, and assesses the discriminatory capacity of SDG‐related indicators within the country's five major regions. The analysis uses data from the 2024 Map of Inequality among State Capitals, developed by the Sustainable Cities Institute and the Sustainable Cities Program. The Entropy Method was applied separately to each regional and dimensional subset to estimate the relative variability and discriminatory capacity of SDG‐related indicators across environmental, social, and economic dimensions. The resulting weights are interpreted as measures of variability within each subset, rather than as evidence of substantive importance, severity, or causal influence. Within each regional and dimensional subset, indicators with higher entropy weights showed greater variability and discriminatory capacity among the capitals analyzed. In the environmental dimension, these indicators included solid waste management, sanitation‐related diseases, vegetation cover, CO 2 emissions, and wastewater treatment. In the social dimension, sports infrastructure, violence against the LGBTQI+ population, and the Black/non‐Black infant mortality ratio were among the indicators with greater discriminatory capacity. Public investment in infrastructure received high weights across the five regional analyses, reflecting its discriminatory capacity within the respective subsets without implying causal influence or direct comparability across regions and dimensions. This study contributes to the sustainable development literature by providing a replicable entropy‐based framework for examining territorially differentiated patterns in SDG‐related indicators. The approach can complement sustainability monitoring and support the identification of indicators requiring further investigation.