Berlin has been ranked as one of the leading smart cities in Europe 2023 by Juniper Research. The study defines a smart city as a place that 'improves traditional networks and services by digital solutions to the benefit of inhabitants and businesses'.

The analysis investigated the following areas:

• transportation and infrastructure;
• energy and lighting;
• city management and technology;
• urban connectivity.

Berlin ranked as the leading city mostly for its transport related work, integrating private and public transport by its Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) app, Jelbi. Researchers also highlighted the efforts the city took on shared micromobility services, as well as renewable energy generation.

Juniper forecasts high emission saving potentials employing smart city developments in Europe, reaching 247 million tons CO2e by 2028. Today, they already see savings of 161 million tons CO2e.

While Berlin takes the lead for its transport and energy related work in Europe, Shanghai is ranked as the top city at global scale. The main reasons for this position are a 'Citizen Cloud' providing more than 1,000 different services for residents, the strong rollout of 5G and using innovations like digital twins. Researchers state that the use of data and connectivity can conflict with privacy concerns though.

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Article published first at CitiesToday on 2 August 2023.