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London, New York and Paris top smart city ranking
The IESE analysed 183 cities in 92 countries worldwide for the 2024 Cities in Motion Index according to 114 indicators that feed into nine key dimensions.
London has been ranked the leading smart and sustainable city in the world, followed by New York (2nd) and Paris (3rd), according to the IESE Cities in Motion Index 2024.
The index ranks 183 cities in 92 countries worldwide on a range of key dimensions linked to sustainability and quality of life for inhabitants.
Europe and North America
Tokyo (4th) Berlin (5th), Singapore (6th), Oslo (7th), Amsterdam (8th), San Francisco (9th) and Chicago (10th) round out the top 10, where in the latest results, Europe and North America dominate.
Beyond the top 10, Europe accounted for more than half (26) of the cities in the top 50, while North America was home to a further 14. The remainder were located in Asia (Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Beijing, Taipei, Hong Kong and Shanghai) and Australia (Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra).
The 9th edition of the global ranking has added new indicators of city health, such as the number of unicorn startups or corporations listed in the Fortune Global 500 in each city
Meanwhile, the world’s developing countries continue to struggle to break into the top spots. Among Latin American cities, the highest-ranked is Santiago (91st), followed by Buenos Aires (115th) and Montevideo (119th). Cape Town (141st) has the best position in Africa.
The IESE Cities in Motion Index ranks cities according to 114 indicators that feed into the following nine key dimensions:
- Human capital: indicators include the education level of the population and their access to culture.
- Social cohesion: informed by indicators such as protections for vulnerable groups, community development and healthcare
- Economy: including current and estimated GDP, innovation activities and, for the first time in this year’s index, the number of unicorn companies and companies on the Fortune Global 500 list
- Governance: includes the quality of state interventions
- Environment: including pollution levels, water quality and other gauges of ecosystem vitality and climate vulnerability
- Mobility and transportation: ease of movement and access to public services; indicators also include bicycle ownership rates and the length of metro lines, which indicate a city’s investment in its citizens
- Urban planning: including health infrastructure, sanitation services and housing policy, but also artificial intelligence projects that promote urban growth and wellbeing
- International profile: branding and strategic tourism outreach, including hosting international conferences, hotel offerings and the Restaurant Price Index
- Technology: smart uses of ICT technologies, broadband availability and the percentages of households with computers/mobile phones.
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While the index acknowledges it’s relatively easy for cities to get things wrong, it finds there are also many areas where cities are applying innovative approaches to improving liveability and the urban fabric. Here are a few category leaders from around the world:
Cape Town, #1 in Africa Though South Africa’s second largest city ranks 141st in the index overall, it demonstrates a commitment to improving liveability for citizens by facilitating access to information, providing free Wi-Fi on city buses, and using real-time data to support emergency response and surveillance services.
Edinburgh, #1 in social cohesion Despite a growing population, the Scottish capital continues to rank highly for social considerations. It also has a number of new innovation projects, including an operations center that manages the city’s real-time data 24 hours a day, improving everything from traffic management and disaster response to the city’s carbon footprint.
Hong Kong, #1 in technology The city displays an enduring commitment to digital transformation, and initiatives such as iAM Smart and Covid-19 tracking apps show how smart technology can have tangible effects on citizens’ everyday lives.
Melbourne, #1 in Oceania Australia’s second city is a leader in biophilic urban design, which integrates nature into the fabric of city life, creating oases of biodiversity in the midst of the urban jungle. Updating this policy for the age of smart cities are initiatives like Data in the Park, which analyses interactions and behaviours in public space to improve the management, maintenance and future design of green spaces.
Santiago, #1 in Latin America After a 2017 initiative to convert a quarter of its bus fleet to electric vehicles, the Chilean capital has met and surpassed its goal, with nearly 7,000 vehicles (30 per cent of the fleet) electric to date. This and other green initiatives have also resulted in a 70 per cent reduction in the number of days with poor air quality in the past 10 years.
For nine years, IESE has been compiling the Cities in Motion Index, spearheaded by professors Pascual Berrone and Joan Enric Ricart. In 2024’s report, they analyse 183 cities in 92 countries, 85 of which are capitals.
The most recent results can be explored in more detail in an online map and calculator. Users can compare cities and drill down to see scores within each of the nine dimensions and enter indicator data to discover how it would rank based on this input. The calculator can also be used to show how a city’s ranking might change as its inputs change.
Why not try these links to see what our SmartCitiesWorld AI can tell you.
(Please note this is an experimental service)
How do unicorn startups influence a city's economic ranking in the index?What role does urban planning play in improving city sustainability scores?How is real-time data used to enhance emergency response in smart cities?Which indicators measure social cohesion within the Cities in Motion Index?How does biophilic urban design contribute to Melbourne's smart city status?AmsterdamBerlinConnectivity & DataEnergy & EnvironmentGovernance and CitizenLondonmobilityNew YorkParisSan FranciscoSantiagoSingaporeTokyourban space
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