- Both European and Asian cities feature prominently in this index.
- Two of the top three cities are Swiss, namely Zurich (in first place) and Geneva (in third place), accompanied by Oslo in second place.
- No African or American cities appear in the top 20 smart cities in the world.
By smart cities, we mean complex, interconnected systems that use new technologies to manage urban issues such as the use of public spaces, waste collection, resource efficiency and mobility.
These urban environments are becoming increasingly important, as estimates suggest that while approximately 56% of the world’s population currently lives in cities, this figure will rise to over 70% by 2050.
It is therefore important to note that since 2014, every 31 October has been marked as World Cities Day, a day that seeks to highlight how urbanisation facilitates social inclusion, such as access to services or new opportunities, as well as the commitment and mobilisation reflected in diversity.
But returning to smart cities, let’s take a look at the twenty smartest cities in the world in 2025 and how this ranking has evolved since 2024.
Smart City Index 2025
The Smart City Index 2025 is a study by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), an organisation that compiles this index annually to, according to the organisation’s own website, ‘provide a balanced view of the economic and technological aspects of smart cities, on the one hand, and the “human dimensions” of smart cities (quality of life, environment and inclusion), on the other’.
Before looking at these 20 cities in detail, the distribution by continent is striking: twelve are in Europe, seven in Asia and one in Oceania, with none in Africa or America.
As a curious aside regarding these absences, we could add that the top three African cities are Cairo (Egypt), Rabat (Morocco) and Cape Town (South Africa) in positions 117, 123 and 124 respectively, while the American cities are Boston (United States), Ottawa (Canada) and New York (United States) in positions 35, 42 and 49.
If we distinguish between the north and south of the continent, we have to go down to 118, 120 and 130 to find Medellín (Colombia), Santiago (Chile) and Brasilia (Brazil).
Top 20 smart cities
Moving on to the analysis of the 20 cities that lead this ranking, it is worth noting that the top three are European and two of them (specifically the first and third) belong to the same country: Switzerland.
If we extend the analysis to the top five countries, we see that they only represent three countries, as in addition to the two Swiss cities, there are also two from the United Arab Emirates: Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
- 1. Zurich. As has been the case since 2020, the Swiss city leads the ranking.
- 2. Oslo. Like Zurich, Oslo has not changed its position in this index since 2020, remaining in second place since that year.
- 3. Geneva. The first change in the ranking is found in Geneva, which climbs one position from fourth place in 2024.
- 4. Dubai. The city in the United Arab Emirates climbs eight places to fourth in 2025, a more marked increase when we consider that it was ranked 19th in 2020.
- 5. Abu Dhabi. The capital of the Emirates, like its neighbouring city, has also improved in 2025, climbing to fifth place from tenth last year. Although less than Dubai, it has also improved substantially since 2020, when it was in fourteenth place.
- 6. London. The British capital also climbs two places compared to 2024, taking sixth place, although in 2021 it was in third place.
- 7. Copenhagen. It is not until seventh place that we find a city that has worsened compared to the previous year. Specifically, the Danish capital drops from sixth place, a more pronounced decline if we consider that in 2020 it ranked third.
- 8. Canberra. Like its predecessor in the index, Canberra also falls when compared to its 2024 ranking: specifically, the Australian capital drops from third place (which it also held in 2023) to eighth.
- 9. Singapore. The Southeast Asian city-state drops four places to ninth after rising from seventh between 2020 and 2023.
- 10. Lausanne. Continuing the downward trend, the third Swiss city in the index drops to tenth place in 2025 from seventh in 2024, although its decline has been more pronounced since 2021, when it ranked fourth.
- 11. Helsinki. The Finnish capital also falls in the ranking, dropping to eleventh place from ninth twelve months earlier, although in 2020 the Nordic city was in fifth place.
- 12. Prague. Unlike its five immediate predecessors, the Czech capital improves on its 2024 ranking, when it was in fifteenth place. However, it has not managed to climb back up to the fourth position it held in 2020.
- 13. Seoul. The South Korean capital continues to climb the rankings, from twentieth in 2020 and seventeenth in 2024, to thirteenth in 2025.
- 14. Beijing. The Chinese capital has fallen slightly from last year, although it has improved compared to 2020, when it ranked 22nd in the index.
- 15. Shanghai. Another Chinese city that has made significant progress is Shanghai, which has climbed four places since 2024 but many more since 2020, when it was in 42nd place.
- 16. Ljubljana. The Slovenian capital is another city that has climbed significantly in the rankings, entering in 2023 in 47th place, moving up to 32nd the following year and reaching 16th in 2025.
- 17. Amsterdam. The Dutch city has risen slightly from 18th place in 2024, although it has been on a downward trend since 11th place in 2020.
- 18. Stockholm. The Swedish capital is also on a downward trend, falling from 11th place in 2024 to 18th.
- 19. Hong Kong. Like Amsterdam, this Asian city has risen one place to 19th, although it has been on an upward trend since 34th place in 2020.
- 20. Hamburg. The northern German city continues its downward trend, falling from 14th in 2024 to 20th in 2025, although in this case the decline has been steady since 2020, when it ranked sixth.
As a point of interest, and given that none appear in the top 20, we can point out that the four Spanish cities included in the index are: Bilbao (remaining in 29th place), Madrid (down three places to 38th), Zaragoza (up five to 52nd) and Barcelona (down eleven places to 92nd).
