Not just beautiful, but also smart: Zurich.Image: Shutterstock
The Swiss cities of Zurich, Geneva and Lausanne are among the world’s leading cities in terms of digitalization and population satisfaction with infrastructure and services.
Mar 31, 2026, 9:44 a.mMarch 31, 2026, 12:01 p.m
Zurich defended first place among 148 cities in the IMD Smart City Index 2026. Geneva remained in third place behind Oslo. Lausanne improved by three places and was now in seventh place behind Dubai. This emerges from the report published on Tuesday by the IMD World Competitiveness Center (WCC).
Zurich scores particularly well when it comes to health and safety aspects. The influence of public WiFi or security cameras and traffic information on the smartphone is less pronounced.
The report highlights that in the most successful cities, factors such as transparency, quality of infrastructure and public trust are more important than pure technological excellence. Swiss cities perform above average particularly in institutions, governance and urban structures, while technological indicators are less important.
Oasis City storms forward
Larger shifts were seen in other regions of the world: the Saudi Arabian oasis city of Al Ula gained 27 places, the US capital Washington 23. In contrast, the French cities of Bordeaux and Lyon each lost 19 places, Ottawa in Canada and Shenzhen in China lost 18 each.
The majestic Qasr Al Farid, also known as the Tomb of the Lihish Son Kuzas, stands tall in the Hegra Desert of Al Ula.Image: Shutterstock
Rome and Athens with trust problems
The study also makes it clear that technological maturity alone is not enough. Cities like Athens (ranked 139) and Rome (143) have high technology scores, but fall behind due to weak trust, perceptions of corruption and citizen participation.
Although Athens has high technology scores, the city falls behind when it comes to trust and perception of corruption.Image: shutterstock
The Smart City Index is based on surveys of around 400 residents per city. Above all, it measures subjectively perceived quality of life, transparency and satisfaction with digital services. (fox/sda/awp)
Data and sources
For the IMD Smart City Index 2026, 120 people from 148 cities were asked about their perceptions. These values were then added together with the last three years and weighted (2026:2025:2024 at 3:2:1).
The areas of “structures” and “technologies” that are available to residents were queried. These areas in turn were divided into: health and safety, mobility, activities, opportunities and administration. This resulted in ratings such as AAA, AA, A, BBB and so on.
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