Zurich once again the smartest city in the global IMD Smart City Index
For the fifth time in a row, Zurich was ranked as the smartest city in the world in the global IMD Smart City Index. Geneva and Lausanne also achieved strong rankings.
The IMD Smart City Index has once again placed Zurich in first place in a global comparison. Geneva improved from 9th to 4th place, while Lausanne slipped to 7th place. For this year’s survey, interviews were conducted in 142 cities worldwide to measure the intelligence and perception of the inhabitants of their city. The World Competitiveness Centre of the IMD Business School in Lausanne and Singapore is responsible for compiling the index each year.
Zurich received a AAA Smart City rating, both overall and in the areas of structures and technologies, with Geneva achieving similar scores. Citizens in Zurich prioritise affordable housing, traffic density and air pollution among the 15 important criteria, while Geneva and Lausanne have similar priorities.
Geneva and Lausanne also received high ratings for their smart city initiatives, with Lausanne placing particular emphasis on safety. The municipalities of Riga, Luxembourg and Vilnius saw significant progress in the index, while cities such as Bologna, Los Angeles and Rome saw significant declines. These findings could be of great interest to property and location development professionals.