According to Victor Carvalho Pinto, an attorney specializing in Urban Law and a legislative advisor to the Brazilian Federal Senate, supporting the modernization of city and state administrations—so-called "institutional development"—is more critical than funding municipal public works. In an exclusive interview with Geocracia, Carvalho Pinto, coordinator of the Cities and Regulation Hub at Insper's Arq.Futuro Cities Lab, stated he is not concerned about the dissolution of the Ministry of Cities, as the federal budget, Caixa Econômica Federal, and BNDES already allocate non-repayable grants for many municipal projects.
In his view, however, only properly designed and planned works should receive funding. "A project in a metropolitan region, for example, should never benefit without an active inter-federative governance structure and an approved Integrated Urban Development Plan (PDUI), which is mandatory [...] Information technology systems for urban planning and management, including cartography and land registry, for instance, must be in place before we can even discuss specific projects," argues the attorney, who highlights several smart city bills currently moving through the legislature that the public should monitor closely.
