Smart City: Revealing the Reality Behind the Paper Glitz

24.03.2023

8 Min. read time

Judging by Bitkom’s Smart City Index, Germany’s major cities are getting smarter and more connected. This is also reflected in a survey by the US Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). But how much weight do these studies and digital indices actually carry?

Let’s cut to the chase: even most Berliners were left speechless when the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) crowned their city administration the world’s most digital in autumn 2022. And this ahead of 192 other cities, including highly praised contenders like Madrid (just behind in second place), Tallinn (Estonia), and Copenhagen, which shared third and fourth place, or New York and Paris in sixth and seventh. Yet according to Bitkom, two-thirds of Germans (64 percent) consider their city or municipal administration outdated in terms of digitalization – and in the aforementioned 2022 Smart City Index by the digital association, Berlin even slipped 12 places to 25th in the administration category.

Some wonder whether Berlin’s rise in the UN’s Local Online Services Index (LOSI) might be linked to the city hosting the Smart Country Convention in mid-October 2022. What DESA has to say about this surprising result – and how a Berliner who moved to Munich comments on it – you’ll find below. Here’s a sneak peek: Berlin scored top marks (first place) in the LOSI study for its institutional framework, content provision, and (citizen) participation and engagement. For services and technology, however, it only managed fourth place, trailing Madrid, Tallinn, and Tokyo.

What Makes a Smart City?

What defines a city as a smart city? Several factors and criteria come into play. Smart traffic infrastructures are just as important as a digitalized administration with largely free online access to all forms, along with themes like environmental and social engagement.

Hamburg stands out particularly in the social sector, which is why it has topped Bitkom’s Smart City Index 2022 for the fourth consecutive year. However, the Hanseatic city has lost some of its lead, with Munich and Dresden (second and third place) rapidly closing the gap. According to Bitkom, many latecomers have also made significant progress. In the overall ranking, Hamburg leads with 86.1 points out of a possible 100, just ahead of Munich at 85.3. Dresden, with 81.6 points, has secured third place for the first time, while Cologne has dropped from second to fourth place with 79.4 points. The previous year’s surprise climber, Karlsruhe, has even fallen from fourth to fourteenth place. Stuttgart (fifth place) and Nuremberg (sixth place), on the other hand, have made strong gains.

Nuremberg: More Than Just Bratwurst

The Franconian metropolis – along with Aachen and Düsseldorf (seventh and ninth place) – has made a remarkable leap. All three have entered the top 10 for the first time, scoring between 76.6 and 77.6 points. The top list is rounded out by Bochum and Darmstadt in eighth and tenth place, each excelling in different categories. These criteria, which partially overlap, include: overall ranking, administration, energy and environment, IT and communication, mobility, and society. A fitting follow-up: Smart City.

In administration, Nuremberg leads alongside Heilbronn (+36), Düsseldorf (+31), Heidelberg, and Munich (+9). For energy and environment, Paderborn (+13), Ulm (+40), Trier, Aachen (+14), and Stuttgart (despite slight losses) are at the forefront. In IT and communication, the top five remain stable: Gelsenkirchen, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, and Kiel score between 88.1 and 84.4 points. In mobility, Nuremberg, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, and Cologne take the top five spots with scores from 94.2 to 87.9 points. For society, Hamburg leads with 98.1 points, followed by Dresden, Düsseldorf (+17), Wuppertal (+8), and Potsdam (+12). The numbers in parentheses indicate the upward or downward movement in the rankings.

Berlin’s Startup Metropolis Makes Few Cuts

What stands out is that Nuremberg is the only major city this time to lead in two of the five categories – administration and inner-city mobility – the only category where Berlin also ranks among the top five. Overall, the federal capital only managed 11th place, despite being home to so many initiatives and innovative startups that brand themselves as “smart.” In administration, Berlin even dropped 12 places to 25th, while in energy and environment, it plummeted to 52nd (-27), landing firmly in the lower ranks. In IT and communication, it fared better at 18th, and in society, it climbed to 8th (+19).

For the Smart City Index – supported by Detecon, PwC, Uber, and Visa – Bitkom collected a total of 11,000 data points. Only 81 cities with populations of 100,000 or more were evaluated. The five categories are further broken down into 36 indicators, comprising 133 parameters in total. These include online citizen services, (car) sharing offerings, environmental sensors, and broadband coverage. Cities were allowed to report their own performance but had to back it up with sources – 85% did so.

Strong Digitalization Climbers in the Lower Ranks

Finally, it’s worth taking a look at the IT and communication sector. Among the risers, alongside the top 5, are Regensburg and Mannheim (+9) in 6th and 7th place, Münster in 10th (+11), and particularly many of the cities ranked 11th to 20th, such as Ludwigshafen (+17) and Trier (+28) in the upper midfield, as well as the climbers Herne, Augsburg, and Stuttgart in 15th, 16th, and 17th place. Meanwhile, Darmstadt and Wuppertal were pushed back to 19th and 20th in digitalization, IT, and communication. Neuss, Osnabrück, Aachen, and Hanover landed in 21st to 24th place but could still spring surprises with their gains, as could Frankfurt am Main in 28th (+32).

How a Former Berliner Sees the City as the UN’s Number One

Even Berliners and local media were stunned when the United Nations recently crowned the federal capital’s administration as the most digital in the world. No one could fathom how the much-maligned “Spree metropolis” – BER sends its regards – managed to outrank 193 other cities. Yet, compared to the past, much has changed. While the ADAC once named Munich as Europe’s best city for public transport 15 years ago, Berlin was already ahead in terms of “Öffi” frequency and fare transparency – something that still baffles most Munich residents and drives tourists to distraction.

As the Berliner Zeitung reports, complaints about digital and analog bureaucratic processes still pile up along the Spree and Havel. The paper wanted to get to the bottom of Berlin’s strong performance in the study and asked Deniz Susar, Governance and Public Administration Officer at DESA, how the city achieved its top ranking. He clarified that the index from the 12th study doesn’t claim Berlin has the world’s best digital administration – but Berlin and Madrid simply offer most of the features assessed by DESA, while 47 of the 193 cities don’t even have a web portal.

You can’t say Berlin is more digital than Tallinn, either – both cities score highly. Besides, comparing Germany and Estonia is tricky due to vastly different population sizes, Susar noted.

Another thought: Whether things have improved since then is unclear, but Neukölln’s employment office – the largest in Germany – once had to repay a double-digit sum to the federal government because it failed to use AMB funds effectively. *Det is Berlin*, as many Germans sighed during the BER airport fiasco.

The sheer number of studies doesn’t help. Even if some cities are on the rise and have done their homework, Germany still lags behind many other countries digitally. To quote an old Esso ad: *”There’s still a lot to do – let’s get to work.”*

Source header image: Adobe Stock / stnazkul

Image source: Adobe Stock / stnazkul

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