Marta Sousa Brenha, who holds a Master in Economics by FEP, is the winner of the Porto Economy Award with the dissertation “Why are Some Cities More “Smart Sustainable” than Others? – The Portuguese Panorama”, supervised by Professor Maria Isabel Mota.
“Initiatives such as the Porto Economy Award demonstrate the commitment of local authorities to their sustainable development, as well as its valorisation from new perspectives, creating a stage for students and researchers interested in these very topics. In this sense, I feel honoured to see my work recognised by a Municipality such as Porto, and also to bring attention to the topic of smart and sustainable cities”, highlights Marta Sousa Brenha.
In her Master’s dissertation, Marta Brenha sought to answer the question “How can technology and innovation help make our cities more sustainable?”, using data from 278 municipalities in mainland Portugal.
“The results show that the central and southern regions of Portugal and the inland municipalities perform relatively better, further suggesting that the size of a municipality has no impact on its level of smart sustainability. On the contrary, population density and the independence of the municipal executive seem to favour intelligent sustainability”, highlights Professor Maria Isabel Mota.
The Porto Economy Award, promoted by Oporto City Hall, annually distinguishes academic works that focus on a topic of relevance and interest for the city’s economy, seeking to encourage research on local and regional economy.
The award will be presented at a ceremony to be held next week.
This is the second time that FEP is distinguished with this award. In the first edition of the initiative, the three distinguished dissertations were from FEP.
