A new global report ranks three Swiss cities – Zurich, Geneva, and Lausanne – among the world’s ‘smartest. What exactly does this mean?
Choosing the ‘smartest’ city in the world is not an easy task, but a new international study has done just that.
And its findings show not only that Zurich took the number 1 spot, but also that Geneva and Lausanne are among the top 10 (in the 3rd and 7th place, respectively) — an impressive result, considering that 148 cities were ranked.
What is this ranking?
The IMD Smart City Index 2026 was produced by the IMD World Competitiveness Center (WCC)
Its researchers combined real-world data and survey responses from residents of each city to show how technology allows to improve the quality of life of their population.
What is a ‘smart’ city anyway?
It has nothing to do with the IQ of their residents.
Instead, the WCC defines a ‘smart city’ as one that strikes a good balance between its economic prowess (jobs and business activity included), applied technology, environmental concerns, and inclusiveness. The end goal? To facilitate a high quality of life for those living there,” the authors say.
Further, Smart City Index “measures economic and technological aspects on the one hand, and ‘humane dimensions’ – such as quality of life, environment, and inclusiveness – on the other.
The ranking ranges from the highest – ‘AAA’ for ‘smartest’ cities to ‘D’ , which received lowest scores.
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Let’s look at the winner, at Zurich first
(AAA rating)
Switzerland’s largest city has retained its number-one rating since 2021.
That’s quite a feat, though, like in other places, some aspects of life in Zurich leave room for improvement.
Among them are, not surprisingly, affordable housing, seen as a priority by 82 percent of local residents.
Next is the road congestion (60 percent).
These two ‘downsides’ are the same as cited by residents of Geneva and Lausanne (see below), which means housing and traffic woes are common to all large cities in Switzerland.
On the positive side, Zurich got thumbs up for basic amenities like rhealth services, safety, school system, recycling, citizen engagement, and public transport.
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What about Geneva?
(Smart City AA rating)
Here, 82 percent of residents pointed to affordable housing as the main challenge, followed by road congestion (62 percent).
That is not at all surprising, as Geneva has been dealing with traffic jams for many years, and is rated as the worst city in Switzerland (and 75th in the world) in terms of bottlenecks.
However, most survey participants are satisfied with the city’s amenities, employment opportunities, public transport, health services, and schools.
So much so, in fact, that Geneva’s ranking has climbed from the 8th place in 2020 to the 3rd this year.
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Last but not least, Lausanne
(Smart City AA rating)
Like its neighbour Geneva, the Vaud capital, a popular destination for international residents and companies alike, also excels (in its residents’ view) in basic amenities, education, health services, and public transportation.
Here too, affordable housing and road congestion are seen as problem areas by 78 and 52 percent of the population, respectively.
But while Lausanne still maintains its ‘AAA’ rating, it has slipped considerably in the last five years: from 4th place in 2021 to 10th in 2025.
Residents are also concerned about safety – more than 52 percent of survey respondents rate it as a problem area.
In fact, the data from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), indicates that the Vaud capital tops the list of cities with more than 30,000 inhabitants for violent crimes.
READ MORE: Is Lausanne really Switzerland’s worst city for violent crime?
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Some similarities, but differences too
It is quite striking how the ‘pluses’ and ‘minuses’ of each of the three cities (at least, according to this particular survey) are similar.
It is true that major Swiss cities are alike in terms of services they offer and their infrastructure, as well as the downsides like expensive housing.
But if you are a resident, you will see that each one is different and distinct in more ways than one.
So what makes Zurich ‘smarter’ than Geneva and Lausanne?
This is down to details, really.
If we look at specifics, Zurich is doing slightly better than Geneva in categories like public transport, unemployment rate, security, recycling, green spaces, education, and basic amenities.
In comparison with Lausanne, Zurich’s scores are also higher across most of these categories, though here too the differences are minimal.
