Are global north smart city models capable to assess Latin American cities? A model and indicators for a new context

Abstract

Most of the methodologies available in the scientific literature for measuring ongoing sustainable efforts at municipal levels are from affluent regions (Europe, US, and Canada). Due to context idiosyncrasies, the models available to measure ongoing sustainable efforts in affluent cities are not suitable for cities in Latin America. Issues related to the lack of infrastructure, the absence of primary and sustainable services, and the problems derived from economic, social, and political environment constraints, which are remarkable in some Latin American cities, have been mostly overcome in the western global north cities. A mere reproduction of successful technological solutions adopted by some cities of the Global North does not mean that the results achieved there will be equally obtained in Latin America. Latin American cities are unevenly developed and in need of different and customized solutions. In the absence of a conceptual and widely accepted methodology to evaluate the smartness of a city considering the Latin America context and in accordance to the literature, this research proposes an innovative model and indicators, levelling up the importance of dimensions less remarkable in previous models. Latin American cities must use their own model to measure their ongoing sustainable efforts that consider the idiosyncrasies of the region while not being tempted to use models from affluent regions, avoiding the risk of reiterating a top-bottom approach and thus using an inappropriate tool.