Lindsey Galloway The BBC speaks to residents in five of the top-ranked cities in the Smart Cities Index 2024 to understand which features are making the most impact to their lives. With global temperatures rising and environmental changes putting pressure on every country, cities are facing new challenges in their plans for a sustainable future. Some destinations, however, have moved aggressively to implement smart solutions that aim to build a higher long-term quality of life, providing guidance for the rest of the world to follow.
To help chart the progress of these initiatives, the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) puts together an annual ranking of the world’s smartest cities, based on the economic and technological strength of each city and how these factors enhance quality of life and provide solutions to societal challenges. Now in its fifth year, the Smart Cities Index 2024 collected data from residents of 142 cities to understand their views on their city’s health and safety, mobility, activities, opportunities and governance. Interestingly, not a single city from North America or Africa cracked the top 20 this year, and all but three cities in the top 20 are located in Europe or Asia.
To better understand what exactly made these cities feel “smart”, we spoke to residents in five of the top-ranked places to understand which features are making the most impact to their lives. Ranking third in the index, and one of the few non-European or.