Urban agendas and technology: contemporary ways of neoliberal capture in small towns

• Grant number: 21/05685-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: September 01, 2022
• End date: August 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Urban and Regional Planning
• Principal Investigator: Marcel Fantin
• Grantee: Thiago Pereira Melo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Arquitetura e Urbanismo de São Carlos (IAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Brazilian territorial pattern, marked by a majority of small towns, plunges into an aggravation of its urban problems, following the low rate of development of planning and management in these cities. The use of global development agendas became relevant in this context, and these began to inform and shape the work of architects and decision makers. Therefore, we must pay attention to the political mechanisms implicit in these agendas, especially due to the importance given to technological facilitators. This is because, given the scenarios of limited institutional capacity and fiscal ordeal in small towns, attractive proposals from technology and consulting companies that promise quick solutions to the bureaucracy and social and political problems arising from urbanization emerge. Based on performance and measurements (indicators, rankings, smart cities), these initiatives show themselves capable of capturing management from a corporate storytelling, apparently supported by the competitiveness and innovation and inventiveness of the private sector. The theme of the autonomy of small towns for urban planning will be deepened, with a parallel focus on their political-technological sovereignty, called into question due to the dependence and specialization of cities in the technological division of labor. Based on this scenario, the program Monteiro Lobato: Intelligent, Human and Enchanted City - CIHE 2030 will be discussed, based on an instrumental and reflective analysis, narrating their compositions and actors, and their relationship with the Technological Park of São José dos Campos, because they are experiences based on the use of technology and technological instruments, approaching concepts of global agendas, especially the UN Sustainable Development Goals. (AU)