The annual Cities in Motion Index, released by the IESE Graduate Business School at University of Navarra, has named Tokyo as the world’s smartest city for the third consecutive year.

Covering 50 lifestyle indicators across 10 dimensions, the survey of 135 cities in 55 countries was measured using a city’s capability to adapt to socio-political and environmental changes. Tokyo leads the world’s cities in terms of its impressive technology, public management, economy and talent.

Supervised by IESE’s professor of strategic management Joan Enric Ricart and associate professor Pascual Berrone, the latest index identified London and New York City as runners-up. The two cities also retain their second and third place rankings from the last two editions of the study.

Out of the top 20 smart cities, three are from Australasia: Osaka (ranked 8), Seoul (9) and Sydney (17), whist ten are in Europe and six are in the United States.

Barcelona demonstrated the biggest leap on the index, jumping from 63 to 51 in the last couple of years based on sustainability and the improving quality of life. Kuala Lumpur and Beijing have also become competitive in recent years, followed by an array of international cities such as Bangkok, Istanbul, Shanghai, Mexico City, Taipei and Johannesburg.

IESE stresses in the report that “the perfect city doesn’t exist,” highlighting the fact that first placer Tokyo only ranked 20th in the environment and 125th in the “social cohesion” categories, respectively. Acknowledging that some “changes are slow to come” in different locations, a global city’s adaptability to present conditions and the future plays a big role in its progress.

Source: www.property-report.com