Zurich ranked world's smartest city in 2026 Smart City Index

The 2026 Smart City Index reports highlight global and regional trends in urban digitalization. According to the IMD Smart City Index, Zurich has been ranked as the smartest city in the world for the seventh consecutive time. The index, which evaluated 148 cities, emphasizes that successful smart cities focus on improving daily life through digital administration, citizen participation platforms, and open data rather than just technological advancement.

In Germany, the Bitkom Smart City Index for cities with over 100,000 inhabitants ranked Stuttgart in first place, followed by Munich, Hamburg, Nuremberg, and Dusseldorf. On the international scale, Hamburg was recognized as the top-performing German city, ranking 15th overall.