Prague is one of the world's smartest cities, says a new global index

Prague, Oct 3 (CTK) – Prague has ranked 19th out of the 102 world cities assessed within the inaugural Smart City Index compiled by the Swiss IMD Institute and Singapore’s University of Technology and Design and released yesterday. The results have been called excellent by Krystof Kruliš of the Czech Consumers’ Forum NGO.

Apart from technological and economic criteria, the Index authors assessed the quality of life in the cities, including healthcare, security, education, traffic, and leisure time activities.

Index leaders are Singapore and Zurich, and seven of the top ten cities are European. Among the European cities assessed, Prague was ranked the 11th smartest.

“In global comparison, Prague has occupied the excellent 19th position after Vienna and Bologna, one position before London, which finished 20th,” said Kruliš, whose Czech Consumers’ Forum NGO cooperates with IMD.

Only Singapore and Zurich reached the best “AAA” mark, while the second-best, “AA”, went to Oslo, Geneva, and Copenhagen. Prague obtained a “BBB”, with 39 other cities receiving the same or higher ratings.

“In the category of health and security, Prague remains mildly above the average. Compared with other cities, it scored positive points for security, a category that tends to cut many other cities’ ratings. In terms of air pollution, Prague fared averagely,” Kruliš said.

The points Prague scored for its quality public transport system were unfortunately neutralized by the city’s under average ability to deal with traffic jams, Kruliš said.

As for leisure activities, Prague is short of green areas but its offer of cultural events is quite impressive, compared with other cities, the survey showed.

“Prague keeps above the average in terms of job opportunities and access to education, but it reached only the average in the category of a friendly approach to minorities,” Krulis added.

rtj/dr/bas