Smart cities: effects on health, work and governance

Jonatas Dutra Sallaberry, Edicreia Andrade dos Santos and Leonardo Flach

Innovation & Management Review, 2025, vol. 22, issue 4, 222-232

Abstract: PurposeThis study investigates the effects of smart technologies in urban management on the economic and social dimensions of Brazilian Smart Cities, with a focus on fiscal governance, health, and work. Smart Cities are defined as those that integrate systems, processes, and services through enabling and inclusive technologies that benefit the community.Design/methodology/approachGrounded in Smart City literature, this empirical study examines the influence of smart technologies on health and work indicators, mediated by fiscal governance. Secondary data from 93 Brazilian Smart Cities were analyzed using structural equation modeling, incorporating mediating effects.FindingsThe results indicate that smart technologies positively influence work indicators but do not directly affect health indicators. A positive relationship with health indicators emerges only when mediated by fiscal governance, underscoring the limitations of merely providing technology in Smart Cities.Social implicationsCities with stronger fiscal capacity are better equipped to invest in the tools, personnel, and infrastructure necessary for the effective implementation of health technologies. These findings can help policymakers allocate resources more strategically to benefit the population.Originality/valueThis study provides empirical evidence on key social components that must be developed for a Smart City to truly serve its citizens. It demonstrates that technology alone has limited impact, but when combined with effective public policy, it can significantly enhance critical indicators such as public health.

Keywords: Smart cities; Health; Work; Urban management; Fiscal governance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/inmr/article/22/4/222/1275 ... -work-and-governance (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/inmr/article-pdf/22/4/222/ ... r-11-2022-0143en.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:inmrpp:inmr-11-2022-0143

DOI: 10.1108/INMR-11-2022-0143

Access Statistics for this article

Innovation & Management Review is currently edited by Moacir de Miranda Oliveira Junior

More articles in Innovation & Management Review from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().