Governance and civic trust are decisive for the success of the smart city project.
The IMD Smart City Index 2026 report, which since 2019 has ranked the world’s leading cities on the basis of residents’ perceptions of infrastructure, services and technologies, shows that the most advanced cities stand out not so much for their level of technological development as for the quality of their institutions and citizens’ trust in urban governance. The report, which this year examines 148 cities, highlights that infrastructure and digital services generate real value only when they are embedded in an organised institutional context aligned with citizens’ expectations. For example, Zurich, Oslo and Geneva, which top the ranking, record higher scores in the structural dimension than in the technological one, while cities equipped with advanced digital solutions but with more fragile institutional foundations tend to rank lower. Italian cities are placed in the lower half of the ranking: Bologna, in 82nd place, is the only one to make a slight gain, up one position, while Milan, in 101st place, and Rome, in 143rd place, have slipped further down the table.
Author: Institute for Management Development-IMD
Publisher: Institute for Management Development-IMD
Publication date: March 2026