Manila falls in list of smart cities

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s capital continued its downward slide in the latest Smart City Index of Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD).

From 121st last year, Manila now ranks 125th out of 146 countries included in the index. It went down from 115th in 2023, 100th in 2021 and 95th in 2020.

The IMD Smart City Index “assesses the perceptions of residents on issues related to structures and technology applications available to them in their city.”

IMD said the index offers “a balanced focus on economic and technological aspects of smart cities on the one hand, and ‘humane dimensions’ of smart cities (quality of life, environment and inclusiveness) on the other.”

The structures pillar refers to the existing infrastructure of the cities, while the technology pillar describes the technological provisions and services available to residents.

These two pillars are evaluated based on five key areas: health and safety, mobility, activities, opportunities and governance.

Cities are rated from a range of AAA to D, with Manila receiving a “C” rating for both pillars.

Based on the index, survey respondents in Manila were asked to select five out of 15 indicators that they “perceive as most urgent in the city.”

Corruption and transparency was selected by 61.2 percent of the respondents, followed by health services with 52.1 percent, road congestion with 46 percent, unemployment with 44.8 percent and air pollution with 42.8 percent.

These were followed by public transport, security, affordable housing, basic amenities, fulfilling employment, school education, recycling, green spaces, citizen engagement and social mobility and inclusiveness.

Similar to last year, Zurich, Switzerland ranked first in this year’s index, followed by Oslo, Norway.

Completing the top 10 are Geneva, Switzerland; Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates; London, United Kingdom; Copenhagen, Denmark; Canberra, Australia; Singapore and Lausanne, Switzerland.

At the bottom of the list were Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Sana’a, Yemen; Guatemala City, Guatemala; Beirut, Lebanon; Tunis, Tunisia; Accra, Ghana; Caracas, Venezuela; Rome, Italy; Lima, Peru and São Paulo, Brazil.