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Global Smart Cities Grow, Led by Technology Innovation

Smart City

Business Honor
02 May, 2025

Five years after Toronto, global smart cities thrive with tech-driven sustainability and urban management advancements.

Five years ago, Alphabet's exit from the Toronto Quayside smart city initiative ended one of the most visible and contentious urban tech projects. Sidewalk Labs, a Google subsidiary, had sought to build a data-driven community but was criticized on data privacy grounds. In May 2020, Alphabet used economic uncertainty during the pandemic as the reason for its withdrawal, leaving many to wonder about the future of smart cities.

It is since then that the idea of the smart city has only gathered momentum, as cities all around the world took to technological advancements to enhance life in the cities. In China, the growth of smart city has been deemed a national plan, and practically 90% of its prefecture-level cities have implemented plans for smart city. China had become a leader in smart city development by 2022, with tech companies at the helm of innovation in AI, data collection, and surveillance technology. Cities such as Shenzhen, Beijing, and Shanghai are among the leading cities in embracing digital technology in addressing issues associated with traffic and the environment.

Meanwhile, North America and Europe's intelligent cities—New York, San Francisco, Paris, and London—are also the champions of the IESE Cities in Motion Index, which ranks urban development using various indicators, from technology to mobility and governance. As of yet, no matter how high-growth Asian and Middle Eastern projects are rising, these cities are the reference for smart city performance.

In the Middle East, the big NEOM project in Saudi Arabia and Masdar City in Abu Dhabi show how people want to live in cities that are sustainable and high-tech. Though NEOM has faced delays, it exemplifies the long-term potential of smart city planning, reflecting the growing trend of cities investing in sustainability and digitalization.

Meanwhile, as all of this comes into being, smart cities are now here to stay, shaping the world's urban future.