Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Land Use Policy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/landusepol Urban challenges and opportunities to promote sustainable food security through smart cities and the 4th industrial revolution Wellyngton Silva de Amorim ⁎ , André Borchardt Deggau, Gabriélli do Livramento Gonçalves, Samara da Silva Neiva, Arun R. Prasath, José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra Centre for Sustainable Development (Greens) at the University of Southern Santa Catarina (Unisul), Brazil ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Food security Climate change Industrial revolution Smart cities Sustainability ABSTRACT The several changes happening in environmental, social, economic, technological and geopolitical spheres of our society result in countless risks, challenges and opportunities for human development. The global population crosses 7.7 billion with the loss of biodiversity, increasing pressure on food, water, and energy resources. The migration of people from rural to urban in large scale is a matter of concern; as the global urban population will almost reach 68% by 2050, approximately 6 billion. A very high concentration of people living in urban areas and growth projection pose a serious challenge for large cities for vulnerability. Amongst the several challenges, food security will be a serious issue for the future of cities. In this context, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and movement towards creating Smart Cities have to provide solutions and opportunities to deal with those chal- lenges. In this opinion paper, we seek to discuss the future of cities, with a holistic vision of several actions to deal with food security challenges in urban centers. 1. Introduction The fast-paced development of humanity in this industrial era has resulted in several risks and challenges, creating systemic issues in our economies, societies and in the environment, locally as well as globally (World Economic Forum, 2019). As the 21 st Century begins, we ex- perience a fast population growth, accelerating deforestation in rain- forests, land degradation and desertification, growing demand for food, energy and water resources (Amorim et al., 2018), and an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gas (GHG) in the atmosphere and climate change (Lal, 2016). It is considered that by 2050, 68% of the world population will live in urban areas (UN DESA, 2018), so infrastructures in cities will be under pressure (Satterthwaite, 2009) and GHG emissions will increase in urban centers (Glaeser and Kahn, 2010). This scenario of insecurity, unpredictability and global environmental change creates a situation of risk and vulnerability to cities, which are considered to be factors which represent the largest and most dramatic manifestations of human action in the environment (Ridd, 1995). Cities allow the creation and spread of ideas, culture, science and social development (Ribeiro et al., 2018), and their importance is such that the 21 st Century is considered to be the “century of cities” (Carrillo et al., 2014). Until recently, there was little discussion regarding food issues and urban studies. However, in the days we live, problems related to food became extremely integrated into cities, making it impossible to ignore the role that food plays in urban centers (Maye, 2018). In this sense, cities are increasingly engaging in practices aimed at food and agri- culture through social movements and actions from authorities and city councils (Deakin et al., 2016; Derkzen and Morgan, 2012). These movements are necessary to find solutions demanded by this scenario we live in, using technological advances, political expressions, and other initiatives, making cities more sustainable, resilient and smart (Vilajosana et al., 2013). In this opinion paper, we seek to reflect on this outlook which can unfold uncontrollably on a global scale leading to larger negative im- pacts on the climate change; as well as a bigger pressure in resources, critical infrastructures, and accelerated technological development. Thus, the critical question arises, “How it is possible to ensure the large urban centers to provide safe and healthy food in such a complex sce- nario, for today and in the future?” https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104065 Received 25 February 2019; Received in revised form 24 May 2019; Accepted 20 June 2019 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Centre for Sustainable Development (Greens) at the Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina (Unisul), Rua Adolfo Melo 34, Centro, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil. E-mail addresses: wellyngton.amorim@gmail.com (W.S. de Amorim), andre.deggau@gmail.com (A. Borchardt Deggau), gabylivramento@gmail.com (G. do Livramento Gonçalves), samara.neiva@unisul.br (S. da Silva Neiva), raprasath.get@pondiuni.edu.in (A.R. Prasath), baltazar.guerra@unisul.br (J.B. Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra). Land Use Policy 87 (2019) 104065 0264-8377/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T