Smart City Index places Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam in top 30
Photo: Singapore receives the AAA rating in the 2021 Smart City Index for the third time in a row.
In the IMD Smart City Index 2021, the Netherlands is represented by three cities: Rotterdam and The Hague rose to the top 30, Amsterdam fell slightly to 17th place. Singapore remains the ‘smart city to beat’ and continues to top the list this year with the highest AAA rating. We discuss how Dutch cities differ from Singapore and what can be done to get closer to the smart city.
A total of 180 cities were included in the smart city index. They are divided into four groups based on their place in the Human Development Index (HDI) that countries meet at their level of development. The Smart City Index does not base its assessments on its own following, but presents hamburgers with statements about experiences in their own city. From each city, 120 were grown over 39 points that indicated the structures and technologies of their cities.
Also, five major themes were chosen from. The focus on the experience of burgers, which means that a region such as Brainport, in which smart city Eindhoven and cities and villages do not always benefit from the powerhouse ASML (the world’s most valuable technology company), is not included in the IMD’s 2021 index.
The index therefore focuses on others, not only on applications and digital participation, but also on the influence of green areas and access to education on the well-being of residents. In the categories health and safety, mobility, activities, opportunities and governance, there is an overview of how smart the 180 cities are. The average score of respondents is ultimately with countries from the same HDI group. The assessments from previous years were also taken into account: this year’s score weighs the most heavily and 2019’s score counts twice and that time.
This year, nine newcomers entered the index. The Swiss Lausanne is particularly striking, which immediately takes fifth place. Seoul and Zaragoza rose the fastest with coordinated 34 and 33 spots. After Singapore, Zurich are in second and Oslo in third with both an AA rating.
Housing crisis and traffic congestion
Amsterdam is still in seventeenth place in the valleys of eight places. She is on or close to the waist in many of the positions. The housing crisis and traffic density show negative outliers: residents of Amsterdam judge these themes as largely unsatisfactory. Green areas and citizen participation are also somewhat poor with a score between fifty and sixty out of the maximum score of one hundred. On the technology side, there is also a lot to gain: the role of IT in education and the ability to monitor air quality get a meager score. Amsterdam does better in providing good public transport, reliable and fast internet, the accessibility of shows and museums through online ticket systems, cultural activities, medical services and youth education.
The city of Rotterdam rose slightly on the list from 29th to 27th place. Like Amsterdam, it scores high on the presence of cultural activities and their accessibility via ticket systems, the healthcare system and public transport. A serious negative outlier is traffic, the housing supply and the entire health and safety category. The Hague also scored no less than five five places to place 23, scores low on health and mobility and is also neatly within the lines by coming out strong with the reach in its HDI group.
Leading Singapore
The Netherlands is doing well on the world stage with three BBB ratings. She also clearly shows strengths and weaknesses she knows in her path to smart city maturity. Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague all reflect the national housing crisis, the switch to a personal and new mobility mix and greater digital awareness. The strength of Dutch cities, based on a good healthcare and education system, cannot yet fully match this. So there are still plenty of opportunities to approach Singapore in the Smart City Index.
Not surprisingly, Singapore has led the IMD index for three years in a row. The city has been known for years as a slim city and launched its Smart Nation initiative in 2014. Three years after payment of the plan, payments of 1.5 billion euros have already been made. And the investments have led to Singapore being seen in several ways as a leader in water and technology can be used if people mainly think in terms of possibilities. The city scores on 2 of the 39 statements and has the highest score with no fewer than twenty statements. Singapore receives an AAA rating for its structures and technologies, as it did last year.
Not temporary, but standard
In general, IMD’s Smart City Observatory notes that the corona pandemic has clearly impacted the development of smart cities and exposed vulnerabilities in its structures. “Coming up this year highlighted the tectonic shifts that have disrupted found chains and organizational structures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Bruno Lanvin, President of IMD’s Smart City Observatory in private media. Addressing the urban challenge has had a significant impact on the acceleration of digital transformation. According to data from IMD, access to better air quality and medical services was addressed as a major topic worldwide.
Shahid Talib, director of area developer Heijmans Smart City, also mentioned the changing sense of urgency among various parties that play a role in urban development. ‘Everyone is becoming more aware of digitization, which you can already see from everyone who has started working from home a lot more during the pandemic. And so there are other developments. It remains to be seen whether they will continue once the pandemic is over.’ According to Talib, companies are happening and not allowing the prioritization of social tasks to become something temporary. ‘You can’t have those tasks done by one party, you do them together in the quadruple helix.’
Frontrunners are needed, he says, who apply the approach to social challenges in systems and incorporate solutions as standard in area development. ‘Before corona, air quality was not a top five priority. At Heijmans, we are now working together with the Longfonds and TNO, among others, on a quality label for clean air. After all, a municipality has to know what that contains in order to be able to demand it in the settings of buildings.’ Air quality and other matters should not be a temporary priority, but a standard priority, says Shahid Talib.
health issues
The pandemic has made burgers once again draw attention to greatness on the agenda. ‘The climate, among other things, remains a high priority for Smart Cities, where the expectations of citizens and their direction of technology require careful attention,’ says Arturo Bris, Professor of Finance at IMD.
The report, including the index, states that the biggest concern of the 180 cities is access to affordable housing. Furthermore, citizens’ concerns diverge depending on how ‘lean’ their city becomes. In cities that score high in the index, their residents are most concerned about the costs of rental and owner-occupied homes. They are also optimally more concerned about environmental problems than lower cities, which see more priority in the prevention of health problems.