Two Asian cities made it in the top-ten smartest cities in the world, according to the 2017 Smart Cities Index compiled by EasyPark Group, a Swedish smart parking company that advocates for smart city development.
Singapore came at number two, while Tokyo ranks sixth.
The index, containing 100 cities worldwide chosen from a list of 500 potential smart city candidates, looks 19 qualifying factors such as smartphone penetration levels and availability of high-speed fixed-line and 4G Internet, transportation and mobility factors, with an emphasis on smart traffic sensors and parking options, as well as the presence of car-sharing apps and services.
Around 20,000 journalists specialising in urban planning and technology were also asked for their insights.
The second place for Singapore – behind the world’s currently smartest city Copenhagen and ahead of Stockholm, is owing to the city state’s thriving business ecosystem, urban planning successes, quality of Internet and its efforts toward clean energy.
The city-state also ranked number one for quality public transport.
The other cities in the top ten are as followsZurich (4), Boston (5), San Francisco (7), Amsterdam (8), Geneva (9) and Melbourne (10)
Other smart cities in East, South and Southeast Asia on the index are Seoul (21), Taipei (57), Daejeon (63), Hong Kong (68), Beijing (81), Shanghai (85), Kuala Lumpur (84), New Delhi (90) and Mumbai (93). Interestingly, Hong Kong, which put aside one billion Hong Kong dollars ($128.2 million) to develop a smart city ecosystem, was just ranked 68, mainly due to lower scores in transport and mobility, governance, sustainability, innovative economy and lack of car sharing services.
In turn, Dubai, which claims to be among the smartest city in the world, just ranks 37 behind Chicago and ahead of Trondheim, mainly owing to poor rankings in clean energy and citizen participation in governance.
