CityLab Daily: The Brazilian City Vying to be a Tropical Silicon Valley
Also today: The big problem with on-demand microtransit services, and Europe's best and worst railway stations of 2023.
An aerial view of an overcast Leblon Beach in Rio de Janeiro.
Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty Images South America
Rio de Janeiro has been looking for a new economic model, one that could help boost its shrinking population. Since returning to office in 2021, Mayor Eduardo Paes has been trying to capitalize on the city’s natural beachfront amenities to reel in digital nomads and new industries like crypto in hopes of turning Rio into a regional tech hub.
But Brazil’s second-largest city faces obstacles to attracting residents, including longstanding problems like economic inequality and homelessness. Critics also warn that a rush of tech workers could raise housing costs and price out locals essential to Rio’s dominant tourism industry, as it did in cities like Miami and Lisbon. Read more from Andrew Rosati and Peter Millard today on CityLab: Looking to Miami, Rio Markets Itself as a Tropical Silicon Valley