Smart cities in Europe and Asia are gaining ground globally, while North American cities have fallen in the ranks, according to Smart City Index 2024 released in April.
Of the top 10 smart cities on the list, seven were in Europe.
This year’s index was created by the Smart Cities Observatory of the IMD Global Competitiveness Center in collaboration with the World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO) based in Seoul, South Korea.
The report ranks 142 smart cities worldwide based on data analyzed by researchers, as well as responses to surveys of 120 residents in each city. The study captures an overview of how the infrastructure and technology available in a city affect the performance of the city and the quality of life of its residents.
So, what is a smart city?
According to IMDa smart city is defined as “an urban environment that applies technology to enhance the benefits and reduce the disadvantages of urbanization for its citizens”.
With few exceptions, the cities in the top 20 are geographically located in areas where the social and economic environment is relatively predictable, even against the overall climate of global uncertainty.
IMD Smart City Index 2024
Cities performing well on the list have also developed initiatives that address the overall quality of life of their citizens.
“Such initiatives focused on developing green spaces and expanding opportunities for cultural events and social ties, for example,” according to the report.
“In the majority of these leading cities, such efforts have been combined with innovative strategies to attract and retain talent, promote investment in a selective manner [e.g. pro-sustainability]and address long-standing issues of geographic disparities and inclusion,” the report said.
Here are the top 10 smart cities, according to the Smart Cities Index 2024.
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Oslo, Norway
- Canberra, Australia
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Singapore
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Lausanne, Switzerland
- London, England
- Helsinki, Finland
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Notably, for the first time since the index began in 2019, there are no North American cities in the top 20.
“Using three-year moving averages (that is, comparing a city’s average ranking for 2021-24 to that of 2020-23), a significant number of US cities have lost ground,” according to the report.
This is especially true for Washington, Denver and Los Angeles (-12, -12 and -11 respectively), but also for San Francisco (-9), New York (-7) and Chicago (-4) .”
The highest-ranked US city this year is New York at 34th, followed by Boston at 36th and Washington DC at 50th.
While European cities dominated the list, Asian cities are also gaining ground.
Here are the top 5 smart cities in Asia:
- Singapore (5th)
- Beijing (13th)
- Taipei City (16th)
- Seoul (17th)
- Shanghai (19th)
Singapore has consistently ranked in the top 10 since the index began in 2019. It was ranked 7th from 2020 to 2023 — except for 2022 when no ranking was released and it moved up two places this year.
Taipei City has also jumped 13 places in the past year, from 29th in 2023 to 16th this year.
“Cities must design and adopt strategies that can stand the test of a future plagued by increasing uncertainties,” said Bruno Lanvin, president of the Smart City Observatory.
“Health-related concerns remain high, while climate-related concerns rise even more. A mix complicated by renewed international tensions. Trust and good governance become more important, and the importance of Al in planning and city management is going to increase.” he said in the report.
“As counterintuitive as it sounds, Al can help cities become more human-centric,” added Lanvin.
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