Indian Cities Slip In Global Smart City Index

News: The Institute for Management Development(IMD) in collaboration with Singapore University for Technology and Design (SUTD) has released the 2020 Smart City Index(SCI).

Facts:

• About the index: The index ranks cities based on economic and technological data as well as by their citizens’ perceptions of how “smart” their cities are.
• Cities Covered: Hundreds of citizens from 109 cities were surveyed and were asked questions on the technological provisions of their city across five key areas: a) health and safety b) mobility c) activities d) opportunities and e) governance.
• What is Smart City? In SCI’s context, ‘smart city’ is described as an urban setting that applies technology to enhance the benefits and diminish the shortcomings of urbanization.

Key Takeaways:

• Topped by: Singapore has topped the index followed by Helsinki (Finland) and Zurich(Switzerland).
• Indian Cities:
  • Hyderabad was placed at the 85th position (down from 67 in 2019)
  • New Delhi was placed at 86th rank (down from 68 in 2019)
  • Mumbai was at 93rd place (down from 78 in 2019) and 
  • Bengaluru at 95th (down from 79 in 2019).