Hong Kong ranks 8th in global smart cities index, beating Seoul and Singapore

Hong Kong has ranked eighth globally in a smart cities index compiled by a local university, outperforming many of its peers in Asia, including Seoul and Singapore.

Polytechnic University published the International Society for Urban Informatics (ISUI) Smart City Index 2025 on Wednesday, with Hong Kong performing strongly in areas such as economy and governance, but struggling in infrastructure and other categories.

Hong Kong was the second-highest performing Asian city in the ranking at eighth place, with Tokyo the only location on the continent to outperform it at fifth.

Other Asian cities also performed well, including Seoul at 13th place, Beijing at 15th and Singapore at 21st.

Stockholm topped the chart, followed by Washington, Barcelona and London.

The index was designed by a team from the university’s Smart Cities Research Institute, with the ranking assessing 73 jurisdictions around the world across six categories, including their economy, infrastructure and environment.