For the third time in a row, Hamburg has taken first place in the Smart City Index of the digital association Bitkom. The other top 10 places behind Munich are Ranking Darmstadt, Dresden, Bochum, Stuttgart, Berlin and Freiburg.
"The Smart City Index highlights various trends in the digitalization of Germany's major cities. On the one hand, Hamburg can reinforce its leading position and distance itself from the competition; this also applies, to a lesser extent, to its closest rival, Cologne. On the other hand, the cities ranked below it are moving closer together. The third and tenth-placed cities are separated by only four points,"
says Bitkom President Achim Berg.
"Success factors for a smart city include a committed city hall, a digital strategy, clear structures, a well-established local network, and public participation. Even more important than sound finances are the will of politicians and administrators and the ability to generate enthusiasm for digitalization throughout the city."
Smart City Index evaluates all 81 German cities
The results of the Smart City Index vary considerably by region. Cities in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, and Saxony perform better than average, while those in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia perform worse. There are no differences in the overall results between cities in eastern and western Germany. Although eastern German cities have a weaker digital infrastructure on average, they compensate for this in the overall ranking with better results in social activities.
The study authors collected and evaluated a total of almost 11,000 data points. All 81 German cities with at least 100,000 inhabitants were included in the ranking.
