EasyPark Group has released its Smart Cities Index for the year 2017. Copenhagen takes up the numero uno spot while Singapore ranks second. Singapore is the only Asian city to find a place in the top five. There is a global movement to develop new smart cities and to transform all major world cities so they are more appropriate for the twenty-first century. Tokyo is the only other Asian city in the top ten.
The special recognition is a matter of pride but doesn’t come as a surprise for Singaporeans. It is no secret that Singapore has a thriving business ecosystem. The city state has been one of the pioneers of sophisticated yet utilitarian urban planning. The successes are well documented and the city acts as the direct inspiration for many other cities and upcoming townships, not just within Asia but around the world. Internet speed, clean energy and public transport are some of the most important attributes of a smart city. Singapore has aced all three and more.
EasyPark Group considers all relevant issues while formulating the Smart Cities Index. For the 2017 rankings, EasyPark looked at smart parking, traffic, car sharing services, clean energy, public transport, smart building, environment protection, waste disposal, digitalization of government, citizen participation, urban planning, business ecosystem, education, internet speed, availability of 4G LTE network, wireless internet hotspots, smart phone penetration and living standard. The assessment has also taken into consideration the steps a city is taking to become smarter in the near future.
Over five hundred cities were in the running. They were compared using the nineteen qualifying factors and more than twenty thousand journalists with expertise in urban planning and reporting on technology were roped in to provide their insights. After extensive comparisons and assessments, a hundred cities were finalized to be listed on EasyPark’s 2017 Smart Cities Index. The other Asian cities making it to the top hundred are Taipei, Seoul, Daejeon, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur. New Delhi also featured on the list along with Mumbai.
Singapore had earlier attained the top spot on the list compiled by Nestpick based in Berlin to rank the best cities for startups. Salary rates, business environment, cost of living and quality of life were the most important factors in the assessment. Earlier in the year, Singapore had earned the recognition for the highest mobile data speeds among all cities in Asia. Singaporean Airlines has recently being ranked among the safest carriers for 2018. These diverse yet correlated accomplishments go on to reiterate the world class standard of infrastructures in Singapore.
Following Copenhagen and Singapore on the 2017 Smart Cities Index are Stockholm, Zurich and Boston rounding up the top five. Tokyo and San Francisco, Amsterdam and Geneva along with Melbourne rounded up the top ten. Asia has been making steadfast progress but the results are yet to show. China has a stated mission to have five hundred smart cities, including transforming some of the existing cities and developing others. India has a smart city mission wherein a hundred cities would be transformed to stand shoulder to shoulder with the major world cities.
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