Smart City Index: Manila ranks lowest in Asia

The IMD Smart City Index 2019 (SCI) on Thursday reported that the city of Manila ranked 94th among 102 cities in the global “smart city” ranking, with Singapore topping the list as the world’s smartest city.

The Smart City index — which ranks 102 cities worldwide — was the first edition released by the IMC World Competitiveness Center’s Smart City Observatory in partnership with Singapore University of Technology and Design.

According to the report, the Top 10 smartest cities in 2019 are Singapore (1st), Zurich (2nd), Oslo (3rd), Geneva (4th), Copenhagen (5th), Auckland (6th), Taipei City (7th), Helsinki (8th), Bilbao (9th) and Dusseldorf (10th).

Meantime, Ho Chi Minh got the highest ranking at 65th followed by Hanoi at 66th. Kuala Lumpur ranked 70th, Bangkok at 75th, and Jakarta at 81st among ASEAN countries.

On the Manila ranking, survey respondents said the most urgent priority areas among 15 indicators the city should address is the provision of basic amenities. This was followed by concerns on corruption, road congestion, air pollution and security.

Succeeding priorities the city should address are unemployment, public transport, affordable housing, fulfilling employment, school education, recycling, green spaces, energy efficiency, social mobility and citizen engagement.

In terms of technologies, Manila posted lower to median scores on the use of technologies for health and safety, mobility, and governance, but above median on activities and opportunities for work and school.