While Balneário Camboriú and Itapema break price records, Tijucas is drawing projects that sell quality of life, not just the square meter. Two planned neighborhoods show how urban design became a branding argument on the Santa Catarina coast.
Tijucas enters the map of high-end Santa Catarina
The coast of Santa Catarina is going through one of the fastest appreciation cycles in the country, and cities like Balneário Camboriú, Itapema, Itajaí and Florianópolis already rank among the most expensive square meters in Brazil [Source: Brazil Economy, March 2026]. That rise pushes buyers and investors toward neighboring towns, and the name that shows up most in this movement is Tijucas, a city of around 51 thousand residents between Florianópolis and Itajaí that could double in size over the next decade [Source: Brazil Economy, March 2026].
The difference is the kind of product arriving there. Instead of one more beachfront tower, Tijucas concentrates planned neighborhoods, projects that deliver a whole slice of city at once, with streets, parks, retail and services designed together. That is an important shift for anyone working with brand: what is for sale stops being the unit and becomes the place.
Flores de Sal, the largest neighborhood-city in southern Brazil
The most ambitious example is Flores de Sal, developed by Urbani Cidades, part of Grupo Petrasalis. The project occupies 4.6 million square meters and was planned to host up to 25 thousand residents across 7 thousand lots [Source: ND Mais, December 2025].
The first phase, already under construction, includes 623 lots and roughly 100 thousand square meters of leisure areas, among them Parque das Flores, a public space of about 70 thousand square meters with a lake and trails already open to the community [Source: ND Mais, December 2025]. Sales track the pace of the works: according to the developers, around 75% of the lots in this phase have been sold and close to 70% of the infrastructure is complete [Source: ND Mais, March 2026].
ND Mais, March 2026
The figure that catches the market's attention is the appreciation of roughly 80% in one year reported by the people behind the project [Source: ND Mais, March 2026]. Part of that is explained by the accessible entry model: a lot can be bought with a down payment starting at R$ 32 thousand and installments around R$ 3,100, unusual numbers in a region where the square meter ranks among the priciest in the country [Source: ND Mais, December 2025].
Rio Parque bets on a linear park and a marina
The second project, named Rio Parque, is set to launch in the second quarter of 2026 with an estimated sales value above R$ 1 billion [Source: Brazil Economy, March 2026]. Developed by Novo Ambiente Urbanismo on an area larger than 400 thousand square meters between the Tijucas and Oliveira rivers, the neighborhood is built around a linear park of about two kilometers designed by architect and urban planner Juliana Castro, of JA8 Arquitetura Viva, plus a marina integrated into the residential complex [Source: Brazil Economy, March 2026].
The first phase, focused on lots, projects around R$ 50 million in investment and repeats the neighbor's logic: an open mall with retail, services and dining to keep much of daily life inside the neighborhood itself [Source: Brazil Economy, March 2026].
The 15-minute city concept
Both projects draw on the same idea: the 15-minute city, an urban model popularized by researcher Carlos Moreno, which proposes having work, services and leisure within at most 15 minutes by foot or bicycle. The thesis finds fertile ground in current buyer behavior. A DataZAP+ survey indicates that about 30% of buyers today prioritize self-sufficient neighborhoods, as long as they offer good leisure infrastructure and a connection to urban centers [Source: DataZAP+ via ND Mais, March 2026].
What this teaches about brand and value
For a branding agency, the point is not the brick, it is the promise. These developments do not sell only lots: they sell belonging, security and time given back in the day. Luciana Pereira, director of Urbani Cidades, sums up the bet when she says the focus is to balance the rigor of urban planning with the sensitivity of the human factor, making quality of life happen before the first residents even arrive [Source: ND Mais, March 2026].
That is the heart of placemaking: building meaning before building density. Name, visual identity, narrative and the experience of visiting the park or the sales stand all become part of the value of the square meter. When a neighborhood is born with a coherent story and aesthetic, it moves through the real estate cycle with more strength, because the buyer is not only calculating returns, they are choosing where they want to belong.
Conclusion
Tijucas shows that the next frontier of the Santa Catarina coast will not be disputed on price per square meter alone, but on the quality of the experience each project manages to promise and deliver. For those who develop, build or communicate these projects, the lesson is direct: treating the neighborhood as a brand, with a clear purpose and a consistent identity, has stopped being a differentiator and become a condition for capturing value. The square meter still matters. The difference is that now it comes wrapped in an idea of a city.
