Abstract The aim of this study was to identify the network of Brazilian researchers studying smart cities and describe their main contributions to the debate on the theme. Representation of relationship networks was carried out to obtain a photograph of the nuclei of research in "smart cities" and a systematic review of the literature of the existing national productions. The results show that there is a conceptual and empirical predominance of smart cities that bring together aspects related to Information and Communication Technology and people's quality of life, connecting them and enabling them in order to promote constant interactions in cities and public governance . Researchers who study the subject are located mainly at USP, PUC Campinas, UFPE and UNINOVE, however, networks of relations between universities in the conduction of the research were not evidenced. The article assists in the general analysis of the research carried out in Brazil on intelligent cities as well as contributes to the discussion of the need for a broader view of the concept of intelligent cities, which goes beyond the creation of ICTs evidenced in this study.