IMD World Competitiveness Center (International Institute for Management Development is a business school with campuses in Lausanne, Switzerland and Singapore).
"Smart cities are a fast-growing species, and a fascinating field for new experiments in a number of critical areas, ranging from urban planning, sustainable energy, and transport strategies to social integration and talent attraction, to name a few.
As leaders and citizens around the world continue to assess, design, implement and improve on ways to create better cities, they often find themselves confronted with a multitude of decisions and a wide range of partial solutions to specific problems such as traffic congestion, waste management and crime."
IMD Smart City Index Report 2024
Here are the top 10 smart cities, according to the 2024 Smart City Index:.
Zurich, Switzerland
Oslo, Norway
Canberra, Australia
Geneva, Switzerland
Singapore
Copenhagen, Denmark
Lausanne, Switzerland
London, England
Helsinki, Finland
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
“This is the case in particular for Washington DC, Denver, and Los Angeles (-12, -12, and -11 respectively), but also for San Francisco (-9), New York City (-7), and Chicago (-4).”
The top liveable cities typically are mid-size and Vienna again was on top.
Ranked 37: Barcelona, Spain, Dublin, Ireland, and Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Mercer, the US financial firm, which has published a ranking for many years, also has Vienna on top.
Apart from Vienna, the Quality of Living city ranking was followed closely by Zurich in second, with Auckland and Copenhagen claiming the third and fourth positions, respectively.
Geneva rounds out the top five rankings, further highlighting Switzerland's reputation for providing a superior quality of living.
“Mercer’s data shows that countries with a high quality of living provide their citizens and expatriates with access to excellent healthcare, education, infrastructure, and social services as well as affordable housing,” said Yvonne Traber, Partner and Global Mobility Leader, Mercer.
Among the world’s largest metropolitan cities, with populations over ten million, Paris (32nd overall), New York City (40th overall) and London (45th overall) all rank highly in the top 20% of cities overall. Though coveted, popular locations for expats, cities of this size often face some infrastructure challenges.
Dublin got a 42 ranking.
Mercer Cost of Living Survey – Worldwide Rankings 2023
(Mercer international basket, including rental accommodation costs)
| Rank | City | Location | Change |
| 1 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong (SAR) | 0 |
| 2 | Singapore | Singapore | 6 |
| 3 | Zurich | Switzerland | -1 |
| 4 | Geneva | Switzerland | -1 |
| 5 | Basel | Switzerland | -1 |
| 6 | New York City, NY | United States | 1 |
| 7 | Bern | Switzerland | -2 |
| 8 | Tel Aviv | Israel | -2 |
| 9 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 2 |
| 10 | Nassau | Bahamas | 6 |
| 11 | Los Angeles, CA | United States | 6 |
| 12 | Shanghai | China | 0 |
| 13 | Beijing | China | -3 |
| 14 | San Francisco, CA | United States | 5 |
| 15 | Honolulu, HI | United States | 5 |
| 16 | Seoul | South Korea | -2 |
| 17 | London | United Kingdom | -2 |
| 18 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates | 13 |
| 19 | Tokyo | Japan | -10 |
| 20 | Shenzhen | China | -7 |
| 21 | Boston, MA | United States | 9 |
| 22 | Miami, Fl | United States | 10 |
| 23 | Washington, DC | United States | 6 |
| 24 | Chicago, IL | United States | 12 |
| 25 | Vienna | Austria | -4 |
| 26 | Bangui | Central African Republic | -3 |
| 27 | Djibouti | Djibouti | 14 |
| 28 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | -3 |
| 29 | Atlanta, GA | United States | 13 |
| 30 | Luanda | Angola | 34 |
| 31 | Seattle, WA | United States | 14 |
| 32 | Kinshasa | The Democratic Republic of the Congo | 21 |
| 33 | Prague | Czech Republic | 27 |
| 34 | Helsinki | Finland | 9 |
| 35 | Paris | France | 0 |
| 36 | Guangzhou | China | -18 |
| 37 | Berlin | Germany | 9 |
| 38 | Munich | Germany | -5 |
| 39 | Conakry | Guinea Republic | 37 |
| 40 | N'Djamena | Chad | 40 |
| 41 | Brussels | Belgium | -2 |
| 42 | Victoria | Seychelles | -4 |
| 43 | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates | 18 |
| 44 | San Juan | Puerto Rico | 28 |
| 45 | Buenos Aires | Argentina | 69 |
| 46 | The Hague | Netherlands | 1 |
| 47 | Lagos | Nigeria | 8 |
| 48 | Frankfurt | Germany | 14 |
| 49 | Milan | Italy | -1 |
| 50 | Philadelphia, PA | United States | 20 |
| 51 | Dublin | Ireland | -2 |
| 52 | Libreville | Gabon | -28 |
| 53 | Dallas, TX | United States | 22 |
| 54 | Montevideo | Uruguay | 69 |
| 55 | Qingdao | China | -33 |
| 56 | Sydney | Australia | 2 |
| 57 | Taipei | Taiwan | -29 |
| 58 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg | -6 |
| 59 | Rome | Italy | -2 |
| 60 | Oslo | Norway | -33 |
| 61 | Houston, TX | United States | 24 |
| 62 | Hamburg | Germany | -3 |
| 63 | San Jose | Costa Rica | 76 |
| 64 | Riga | Latvia | 15 |
| 65 | Pittsburgh, PA | United States | 17 |
| 66 | Dakar | Senegal | -1 |
| 67 | Minneapolis, MN | United States | 16 |
| 68 | Busan | South Korea | -34 |
| 69 | Stuttgart | Germany | 2 |
| 70 | Noumea | New Caledonia | -16 |
| 71 | Melbourne | Australia | -4 |
| 72 | Portland, OR | United States | 19 |
| 73 | Nanjing | China | -47 |
| 74 | Dusseldorf | Germany | 7 |
| 75 | Barcelona | Spain | 3 |
| 76 | Shenyang | China | -36 |
| 77 | Abidjan | Côte D'Ivoire | -9 |
| 78 | St. Louis, MO | United States | 23 |
| 79 | Mexico City | Mexico | 70 |
| 80 | Detroit, MI | United States | 27 |
| 81 | Douala | Cameroon | -4 |
| 82 | Brisbane | Australia | 2 |
| 83 | Madrid | Spain | 7 |
| 84 | Brazzaville | The Republic Of Congo | -10 |
| 85 | Riyadh | Saudi Arabia | 18 |
| 86 | Edinburgh | United Kingdom | -20 |
| 87 | Santiago | Chile | 43 |
| 88 | Cleveland, OH | United States | 24 |
| 89 | Chengdu | China | -45 |
| 90 | Toronto | Canada | -1 |
| 91 | Leipzig | Germany | 8 |
| 92 | Lyon | France | 4 |
| 93 | Osaka | Japan | -56 |
| 94 | Canberra | Australia | 10 |
| 95 | Stockholm | Sweden | -8 |
| 96 | Nuremberg | Germany | 20 |
| 97 | Athens | Greece | 29 |
| 98 | Manama | Bahrain | 19 |
| 99 | Chongqing | China | -43 |
| 100 | Tallinn | Estonia | 40 |
| 101 | Jeddah | Saudi Arabia | 10 |
| 102 | Yaounde | Cameroon | -2 |
| 103 | Pointe-à-Pitre | Guadeloupe (France) | -15 |
| 104 | Bratislava | Slovakia | 1 |
| 105 | Bangkok | Thailand | 1 |
| 106 | Adelaide | Australia | -4 |
| 107 | Perth | Australia | -10 |
| 108 | Xian | China | -45 |
| 109 | Glasgow | United Kingdom | -23 |
| 110 | Amman | Jordan | 5 |
| 111 | Auckland | New Zealand | -16 |
| 112 | Suzhou | China | -43 |
| 113 | Nagoya | Japan | -62 |
| 114 | Harare | Zimbabwe | 15 |
| 115 | Yokohama | Japan | -65 |
| 116 | Vancouver | Canada | -8 |
| 117 | Lisbon | Portugal | -8 |
| 118 | Birmingham | United Kingdom | -24 |
| 119 | Aberdeen | United Kingdom | -26 |
| 120 | Port of Spain | Trinidad & Tobago | 15 |
| 121 | Toulouse | France | -11 |
| 122 | Wuhan | China | -49 |
| 123 | Vilnius | Lithuania | 25 |
| 124 | Taichung | Taiwan | -32 |
| 125 | Belfast | United Kingdom | -4 |
| 126 | Doha | Qatar | 7 |
| 127 | Kingston | Jamaica | 26 |
| 128 | Bamako | Mali | -10 |
| 129 | Bujumbura | Burundi | 15 |
| 130 | Muscat | Oman | -11 |
| 131 | Kuwait City | Kuwait | 0 |
| 132 | Phnom Penh | Cambodia | 2 |
| 133 | Manila | Philippines | -11 |
| 134 | Lome | Togo | -10 |
| 135 | Montreal | Canada | -10 |
| 136 | Guatemala City | Guatemala | 0 |
| 137 | Ottawa | Canada | -5 |
| 138 | Kaohsiung | Taiwan | -25 |
| 139 | Wellington | New Zealand | -19 |
| 140 | Abuja | Nigeria | 7 |
| 141 | Yerevan | Armenia | 56 |
| 142 | Bucharest | Romania | 16 |
| 143 | Ljubljana | Slovenia | 2 |
| 144 | Cotonou | Benin | -16 |
| 145 | Calgary | Canada | -4 |
| 146 | Zagreb | Croatia | 13 |
| 147 | Mumbai | India | -20 |
| 148 | Panama City | Panama | 4 |
| 149 | Ouagadougou | Burkina Faso | -12 |
| 150 | Quito | Ecuador | 6 |
| 151 | Jakarta | Indonesia | 0 |
| 152 | Sao Paulo | Brazil | 16 |
| 153 | Tirana | Albania | 8 |
| 154 | Dhaka | Bangladesh | -56 |
| 155 | Monterrey | Mexico | 30 |
| 156 | Hanoi | Vietnam | -6 |
| 157 | Niamey | Niger | -19 |
| 158 | Casablanca | Morocco | -15 |
| 159 | Maputo | Mozambique | 8 |
| 160 | Santo Domingo | Dominican Republic | 13 |
| 161 | Budapest | Hungary | 19 |
| 162 | Dar Es Salaam | Tanzania | 2 |
| 163 | Nouakchott | Mauritania | 6 |
| 164 | Ho Chi Minh City | Vietnam | -1 |
| 165 | Limassol | Cyprus | 0 |
| 166 | Kampala | Uganda | 0 |
| 167 | Lima | Peru | 5 |
| 168 | Sofia | Bulgaria | 2 |
| 169 | New Delhi | India | -14 |
| 170 | Warsaw | Poland | 4 |
| 171 | Rio De Janeiro | Brazil | 5 |
| 172 | Bandar Seri Begawan | Brunei | 7 |
| 173 | Nairobi | Kenya | -13 |
| 174 | Rabat | Morocco | -12 |
| 175 | Belgrade | Serbia | 0 |
| 176 | San Salvador | El Salvador | 6 |
| 177 | Baku | Azerbaijan | 9 |
| 178 | Accra | Ghana | -32 |
| 179 | Tegucigalpa | Honduras | 10 |
| 180 | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia | 1 |
| 181 | Tbilisi | Georgia | 36 |
| 182 | Minsk | Belarus | 22 |
| 183 | Port-Au-Prince | Haiti | -12 |
| 184 | Chennai | India | -7 |
| 185 | Istanbul | Turkey | 37 |
| 186 | Wroclaw | Poland | 1 |
| 187 | Port Louis | Mauritius | 4 |
| 188 | Brasilia | Brazil | 12 |
| 189 | Bengaluru | India | -11 |
| 190 | Krakow | Poland | 0 |
| 191 | Kigali | Rwanda | 17 |
| 192 | Asuncion | Paraguay | 3 |
| 193 | Antananarivo | Madagascar | -5 |
| 194 | Addis Ababa | Ethiopia | 20 |
| 195 | La Paz | Bolivia | 1 |
| 196 | Manaus | Brazil | 11 |
| 197 | Lusaka | Zambia | 2 |
| 198 | Blantyre | Malawi | -14 |
| 199 | Belo Horizonte | Brazil | 11 |
| 200 | Skopje | North Macedonia | 6 |
| 201 | Managua | Nicaragua | 11 |
| 202 | Hyderabad | India | -10 |
| 203 | Sarajevo | Bosnia-Herzegovina | 6 |
| 204 | Yangon | Myanmar | -6 |
| 205 | Johannesburg | South Africa | -12 |
| 206 | Algiers | Algeria | 12 |
| 207 | Banjul | Gambia | -5 |
| 208 | Almaty | Kazakhstan | 11 |
| 209 | Vientiane | Lao People's Democratic Republic | -52 |
| 210 | Cape Town | South Africa | -16 |
| 211 | Kolkata | India | -8 |
| 212 | Johor Bahru | Malaysia | -1 |
| 213 | Pune | India | -12 |
| 214 | Bogota | Colombia | -9 |
| 215 | Colombo | Sri Lanka | -32 |
| 216 | Gaborone | Botswana | -1 |
| 217 | Cairo | Egypt | -63 |
| 218 | Tashkent | Uzbekistan | 3 |
| 219 | Tunis | Tunisia | 1 |
| 220 | Durban | South Africa | -4 |
| 221 | Ankara | Turkey | 6 |
| 222 | Windhoek | Namibia | -9 |
| 223 | Dushanbe | Tajikistan | 2 |
| 224 | Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan | 2 |
| 225 | Havana | Cuba | -83 |
| 226 | Karachi | Pakistan | -3 |
| 227 | Islamabad | Pakistan | -3 |
* Michelangelo was born in a small village in Tuscany near Florence. He was a Florentine and loved his city, but he spent the last three decades of his life in Rome. This self-imposed exile started when Alessandro de’ Medici was made the first Duke of Florence. Michelangelo considered him a tyrant, so from the 1530s, even after Alessandro’s assassination in 1537, Michelangelo remained in Rome. He was buried in Florence.
As for the quote attributed to the great artist, I have traced it back to an issue of the American magazine 'Life' in 1967. I also used the Italian translation.
