IMD Smart City Index 2025 Rankings: In the latest Smart City Index 2025 released by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Swiss cities continue to dominate.
Zurich retains its No. 1 spot, while Geneva climbs to third and Lausanne ranks 10th, reflecting Switzerland’s strong urban planning and citizen-centric infrastructure.
The Middle East has shown the most dramatic improvement, with Dubai having leapt from 12th to 4th place, and Abu Dhabi from 10th to 5th, signalling their rapid progress in sustainable infrastructure and digital services.
Meanwhile, Singapore, long considered a benchmark, slipped from fifth to ninth place.
Six new entrants joined the global rankings this year: AlUla (Saudi Arabia), Astana (Kazakhstan), Caracas (Venezuela), Kuwait City (Kuwait), Manama (Bahrain), and San Juan (Puerto Rico).
Although rankings remain stable with only minimal changes, there has been a significant shift in the global top 20 for 2025—Taipei City, the capital of Taiwan, has fallen from 16th to 23rd place, while Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, has made an impressive rise from 32nd to 16th.
What is a Smart City?
IMD defines a smart city as “an urban setting that applies technology to enhance the benefits and mitigate the drawbacks of urbanisation for its citizens.” The ranking evaluates cities on five parameters: health and safety, mobility, activities, opportunities, and governance.
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IMD Top 10 Smart Cities in the World 2025:
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