// ANNUAL_REPORT

The Data Corridor Smart City Index 2026

75 cities. 86 evidence-based criteria. Zero surveys. The first smart city index where every score can be traced to its public sources.

Published 2026-07-06 · CC BY 4.0 — free to cite and reuse with attribution

Key findings

Cities assessed

Average score

55.2%

Global average

UK average

55.2%

London leads the world's smart cities in 2026 with a score of 88.9%, ahead of York (83.5%) and Stirling (81.9%). The leaders win on fundamentals — open data, live transit information and digital government — not flagship gadgetry.

UK cities lead the international field by 55.2 points on average (55.2% vs 0%). London is the UK's strongest smart city at #1 globally (88.9%), followed by York and Stirling.

The most common gap is urban data platform & digital twin. Urban Data Platform & Digital Twin is majority-absent in 38% of assessed cities, followed by climate adaptation & heat (29%) and governance & smart-city operating model (21%). Inclusion & Civic Participation is also thin — majority-absent in 17% of cities.

The top 25 smart cities in 2026

#	City	Score	Criteria present
1	LondonUK	88.9%	73/86
2	YorkUK	83.5%	67/86
3	StirlingUK	81.9%	66/86
4	ManchesterUK	79.5%	63/86
5	SunderlandUK	73.9%	59/86
6	SheffieldUK	73.9%	60/86
7	Newcastle upon TyneUK	73.7%	60/86
8	BirminghamUK	72.8%	60/86
9	DunfermlineUK	72.6%	57/86
10	LiverpoolUK	71.9%	57/86
11	PortsmouthUK	71.5%	57/86
12	BristolUK	70.5%	56/86
13	LeedsUK	69.7%	55/86
14	Newport, WalesUK	68.5%	55/86
15	GlasgowUK	68.2%	55/86
16	SwanseaUK	67.8%	53/86
17	CardiffUK	67.6%	54/86
18	CambridgeUK	67.3%	55/86
19	SouthamptonUK	66.2%	51/86
20	CanterburyUK	65.4%	51/86
21	EdinburghUK	65.3%	52/86
22	Perth, ScotlandUK	63.4%	45/86
23	SalisburyUK	61.8%	46/86
24	BelfastUK	61.5%	48/86
25	ExeterUK	61%	47/86

See the full 75-city ranking →

Methodology

Every city is assessed against the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework: 86 criteria across 7 axes — data, digital & smart foundation, mobility & transport, environment, energy & climate, infrastructure, water & waste, health, education, safety & inclusion, economy, innovation & employment, governance, resilience & operating model. AI agents gather evidence from official public sources — open data portals, transport authorities, council publications — and each criterion is marked present, partial or absent. Scores are deterministic: the share of assessed criteria present, with partial counting half. No surveys, no self-reporting, and every finding links to its source, so any score can be independently checked.

Unlike fixed-shortlist rankings, coverage isn't capped: any city can be assessed. The 2026 edition covers 75 UK cities and 0 international cities, refreshed continuously — the figures on this page were generated on 2026-07-06.

Cite this report

Data Corridor (2026). The Data Corridor Smart City Index 2026: 75 cities scored on public evidence. https://datacorridor.io/reports/smart-city-index-2026

This report and its data are published under CC BY 4.0: journalists, researchers and city teams are free to quote, chart and republish any figure with a link back to this page. Raw scores are available from the free public API.