This year's index was created by the IMD Global Competitiveness Center's Smart Cities Observatory in collaboration with the World Smart and Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO), based in Seoul, South Korea.
The report ranks 142 smart cities around the world based on data analyzed by researchers and survey responses from 120 residents of each city. This study captures an overview of how the infrastructure and technology available in a city impacts its performance and the quality of life of its residents.
According to IMD, a smart city is defined as “an urban environment that applies technology to enhance the benefits and reduce the disadvantages of urbanization for its citizens.”
Cities that perform well on the list are also developing initiatives that address the overall quality of life of their residents.
“These efforts focus on developing green spaces and expanding opportunities for cultural events and social bonding,” the report said.
“In most of these major cities, these efforts are combined with innovative strategies to attract and retain talent and drive investment in a selective way. [e.g. pro-sustainability]and address long-standing issues of geographic inequality and inclusion,” the report said.
According to the 2024 Smart City Index, the top 10 smart cities are:
- zurich, switzerland
- oslo, norway
- canberra, australia
- geneva, switzerland
- Singapore
- copenhagen denmark
- Lausanne, Switzerland
- london, united kingdom
- helsinki, finland
- abu dhabi, united arab emirates
It is noteworthy that for the first time since the index was created in 2019, no North American city is included in the top 20.
According to the report, “Using a three-year moving average (i.e., comparing the average ranking of cities from 2021-24 to the average ranking of cities from 2020-23), a significant number of U.S. cities “We're losing rankings.”
“This is especially true for Washington DC, Denver, and Los Angeles (-12, -12, and -11, respectively), but also San Francisco (-9), New York City (-7), and Chicago (-4).”
The highest ranking U.S. city this year was New York City at 34th, followed by Boston at 36th and Washington DC at 50th.
While European cities dominate the list, Asian cities are also emerging.
The top 5 smart cities in Asia are:
- Singapore (5th place)
- Beijing (13th)
- Taipei (16th)
- Seoul (17th)
- Shanghai (19th)
Singapore has consistently ranked in the top 10 since the index's inception in 2019. It was ranked 7th from 2020 to 2023, except for 2022, when rankings were not announced, and rose two places this year.
Taipei City also rose 13 places compared to last year, moving from 29th place in 2023 to 16th place this year.
“Cities must design and adopt strategies that can withstand the challenges of a future plagued by increasing uncertainty.” Bruno Lanvin, director of the Smart City Observatory, said:
“While health-related concerns remain high, climate-related concerns are even greater, and new international tensions complicate the mix. Trust and good governance are increasingly important. ”, and the importance of Al in urban design and management will continue to grow, he said in the report.
“Although it may sound counterintuitive, Al can help cities become more human-centric,” Lamban added.
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