Manila ranks 94th among world’s 102 smart cities
Manila ranked 94th among 102 cities in the global “smart city” ranking with Singapore topping the list as the world’s smartest city.
The IMD World Competitiveness Center’s Smart City Observatory, in partnership with Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), released yesterday the first edition of the IMD Smart City Index 2019 (SCI), which ranks 102 cities worldwide.
The only global index of its kind, the SCI uniquely focuses on how citizens perceive the scope and impact of efforts to make their cities “smart,” balancing “economic and technological aspects” with “humane dimensions.”
Being a globally recognized “smart” city is now critical for attracting investment and talent, creating a potential “virtuous cycle” in favor of an advanced group of cities such as Singapore, Zurich and Oslo.
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).
Among ASEAN countries, Ho Chi Minh got the highest ranking at 65th followed by Hanoi at 66th. Kuala Lumpur ranked 70th and Jakarta at 81st.
Based on the Manila ranking, the 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, the city 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.
Respondents put priority on the use of CCTV cameras to make residents feel safer, and medical appointments online. It has a score of below 50 for online reporting of city, website or app that allows effective monitoring of air pollution.
In terms of mobility, respondents put emphasis on car-sharing apps to reduce congestion, online scheduling and ticket sales to make public transport easier, but lower scores on bicycle hiring to reduce congestion and apps that would direct to available parking space.
Manila also got higher scores on opportunities for work and school with online access to job listings for applicants at a high of 79.67. Online services provided by the city to facilitate starting a new business also at 67.21 percent and IT skills being taught in schools at 65.18 percent.
On governance issues, the city has lower score of 43.2 for online public access to city finances for reduced corruption. It has also a median score for online platform where residents can propose ideas to improve city life.
It has a score of 53.79 for online voting increasing participation, and a score of 73 for processing identification of documents online reducing waiting times.
A city level survey gauged inhabitants’ perception of their urban setting and services provided. “Smart” is defined as assessing a city’s efforts and success in embracing smart technologies to improve the lives of their citizens.
The index is then transformed into a rating, which creates an independent rating of the “smartness” of a city.
Smart cities are a fast-growing species, and fertile ground for new experiments in critical areas, ranging from urban planning, sustainable energy, and transport strategies to social integration and talent attraction. As leaders and citizens around the world assess, design, implement and improve on ways to create better cities, they are confronted with a multitude of decisions and partial solutions to specific problems such as traffic congestion, waste management and crime.