The digital industry association Bitkom has been publishing a ranking of the smartest cities in Germany every year since 2019. Hamburg is ahead again, but the lead has melted.
This year, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg once again defended its top position in the “Smart City Index” of the industry association Bitkom. The Bitkom ranking evaluates the progress made in the digitization of major German cities.
However, the clear Hamburg lead from the previous year had melted considerably, the association announced on Tuesday in Berlin. Hamburg defended their lead with 86.1 out of a possible 100 points, followed by Munich for the first time with 85.3 points. Dresden ended up in third place with 81.6 points.
Berlin in 11th place
Last year’s second place, Cologne, took fourth place with 79.4 points. Karlsruhe slipped from third place to 14th place (73.5 points). New in the top ten are Nuremberg (6th, 77.6 points), Aachen (7th, 77.3 points) and Düsseldorf (9th, 76.6 points). Each of these three cities has moved up ten places. The top 10 is completed by Stuttgart (5th, 78.1 points), Bochum (8th, 77.0 points) and Darmstadt (10th, 75.3 points). Berlin finished 11th with 75 points.
For the Smart City Index, all 81 cities in Germany with a population of 100,000 or more are examined. Bitkom Research recorded, checked and classified a total of almost 11,000 data points. The five subject areas administration, IT and communication, energy and environment, mobility and society were analyzed. For example, parameters such as online citizen services, sharing offers and environmental sensors through to broadband availability are included in the evaluation.
“Success factors for a Smart City are a committed town hall, a digital strategy, clear structures, a strong local network and the commitment of the population,” said Bitkom President Achim Berg. The index is not without controversy among the municipalities. Last year, the city of Moers complained about a poor placement in the ranking. Bitkom counted administrative services as “not digitized” that a municipality belonging to the district could not offer at all, such as digital vehicle registration.