A study has been released by EasyPark about the most intelligent and future-proof cities in the world, revealing which cities are best adopting new technological solutions to improve their sustainability and liveability.
As mobility innovators, the company understands the impact that new technologies can have on societies and how they can help to create sustainable and forward thinking urban areas that enhance the lives of their inhabitants. They therefore set out to determine which global smart cities are leading the way in embracing technological advancements and proving themselves to be cities of the future.
How the study was conducted
The study began by assessing several thousand cities around the world and looked at those smart cities that are leading the way in implementing the use of new technologies.
Understanding that cities face different challenges depending on their population, the study was split into three size categories: metropolitan areas with over three million inhabitants, between 600,000 and 3 million inhabitants, and between 50,000 and 600,000 inhabitants. The result of the study reveals the top 50 highest ranking smart and future-proof cities worldwide in each category.
The researchers turned their attention to establishing the factors that determine how technologically advanced and sustainable a city is, and scored the locations accordingly. To do this, they retrieved data from sources such as the World Bank, the Economist, the International Monetary Fund and the Lancet.
To evaluate how innovative each location is, researchers considered four key areas.
Digital life
Firstly, the digital life of each city was studied by assessing how widely technology has been adopted by the population, the government and within the healthcare sector. They also reviewed the success and reputation of technology educational institutions in each urban area.
Mobility innovation
Next, the researchers focused on mobility innovation. To do this, they looked at how innovative parking solutions are within each city, the overall traffic management system including public transport, and how clean transport in the city is.
Business tech infrastructure
Following this, the study considered each city’s business tech infrastructure. To do this, the level of business innovation, prevalence of ePayments and quality of internet connectivity in each location was measured.
Environmental sustainability
Finally the environmental sustainability of each city was evaluated by analysing green energy usage, the number of green buildings, the waste management system and the overall climate change response and planning.
To read the full study, visit here.
