This Friday (8) an unprecedented tool is being launched: the Sustainable Development Index of Cities, which reveals how Brazilian cities are in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN 2030 Agenda. It will help to ensure that the goals assumed by Brazil in 2015 are also incorporated by cities, important agents of social transformation.
The Index brings a serious warning: no Brazilian city has reached a very high level of development. Of the 5,570 municipalities, 752 are at a very low level, which gives a measure of the enormous challenge that still lies ahead.
But it also allows public managers, society and companies to have a general and integrated view of the city, identifying its strengths and weaknesses in the SDGs. For its elaboration, 100 public indicators were researched that allow knowing how the city is doing in topics such as health, education, poverty, gender equity, climate, among others.
It has always been difficult to see the city in an integrated way, and this is one of the merits of the Index, created by the Sustainable Cities Institute in partnership with the SDSN (Sustainable Development Solutions Network) within the scope of the Citinova project. Brazil becomes the first country in the world to assess the evolution of all its cities in the 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda.
From the individual analysis, the ODS Cities Ranking emerges, which indicates the level of sustainable development of all 5,570 Brazilian cities. The first city in the ranking is São Caetano do Sul, with a score of 65 out of 100, with a high level of Sustainable Development. Among the capitals, São Paulo, Curitiba and Florianópolis are the best placed.
An interactive map provides a view of the country, allowing for sections of states, regions and biomes, which highlight Brazil’s flagrant territorial inequalities. São Paulo is the state with the best average score of cities and the North Region is where the last ones are in the ranking.
When analyzing the country from its biomes, it appears that nine of the ten worst Brazilian cities are located in the Amazon. The map gives an idea of the complexity of this biome, which has been receiving attention from around the world, increasingly aware of the importance of its forests and biodiversity.
In addition to contributing to local governments, the Index can provoke actions by state and federal governments, defining priorities and investments for the most vulnerable regions and reducing territorial inequalities.
In the upcoming elections, it will be the role of candidates for state governments and the presidency of the Republic to incorporate a keen eye for cities, both because of the need for a new Federative Pact, with a distribution of resources among the entities of the federation compatible with responsibility that cities have taken on in recent years, as well as to stimulate and support the promotion of a better quality of life for the population.
How is the sustainable development of your city going? IDSC-Br data are freely available to the whole society on the platform www.idsc.cidadessustentaveis.org.br
Janios
Many Janios marked Brazil, but for me there is no doubt about the importance of one of them for Brazilian society. He combined ethics and aesthetics in the Brazilian press. He trained professionals, contributed to the formation of political consciousness and to broaden the minds of generations gifted with his analysis, elegance and exemplary posture. Congratulations to Janio de Freitas, 90.
