Dubai has advanced eight places to rank 4th globally in the IMD Smart City Index 2025, marking a major milestone in its digital transformation journey. The achievement reinforces Dubai’s position as the highest-ranked city in the GCC, the Arab world and Asia, and highlights its status as a global leader in smart city development and future-ready urban innovation.
Dubai recorded a strong performance across key indicators in the IMD Smart City Index 2025. These include a satisfaction score of 84.5 out of 100 for booking medical appointments online, 86.5% confidence in internet speed meeting communication needs, and 85.4% satisfaction with the online processing of identification documents. Additional results show 82.8% for the quality of health services, 83.4% satisfaction with access to green spaces, 84.3% for recycling services, and 86.5% for cultural activities.
In the 2025 report, Dubai recorded progress in 16 out of 20 technology indicators and achieved advancement across all four pillars of technology governance, underscoring its commitment to continuous innovation and smart city excellence.
In the 2025 report, Dubai recorded progress in 16 out of 20 technology indicators and achieved advancement across all four pillars of technology governance, underscoring its commitment to continuous innovation and smart city excellence.
Assessing how effectively cities leverage digital tools
The IMD Smart City Index, issued by the IMD World Competitiveness Center, is a globally recognised analytical tool that assesses how effectively cities leverage digital technologies to enhance residents’ quality of life. Now in its sixth year, the Index evaluates cities across critical pillars including health, mobility, activities, governance, and opportunities. The results are drawn from a direct survey of residents and citizens who express their perception of the city.
His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Director General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), said: “Dubai’s fourth-place ranking in the 2025 Smart City Index, issued by the Institute for Management Development (IMD), is a testament to the collective efforts of government entities and private sector partners in transforming Dubai into the world’s smartest city. This milestone reflects Dubai’s strategic commitment to harnessing cutting-edge technologies to deliver high-quality services, elevate the quality of life, and enhance the well-being and happiness of its residents.”
Al Tayer added: “RTA supports the government’s smart transformation efforts and has contributed effectively to securing this prestigious global ranking for Dubai in the Smart City Index, outperforming the transport sectors of the top three cities: Zurich, Oslo, and Geneva. This success was driven by excellence across three core mobility pillars: vehicle-sharing applications, with a utilisation rate of 67.9%, exceeding the top three by 24.4%; smart parking search applications at 73.8%, surpassing them by 29.8%; and bicycle rental applications, with a usage rate of 70%, outperforming them by 17.3%.”
Al Tayer noted that the RTA has been instrumental in reinforcing Dubai’s position in the Smart City Index by advancing digital infrastructure and delivering smart services that address the evolving needs of residents and visitors. The integration of artificial intelligence and big data into traffic management has improved traffic flow and reduced congestion by up to 25%, he said.
“RTA is implementing a comprehensive digital transformation roadmap aligned with the Fourth Industrial Revolution and is actively progressing the Dubai Smart Self-Driving Transport Strategy, which aims to convert 25% of all mobility trips in the city into autonomous journeys by 2030.”
This achievement marks a key milestone in the implementation of the Dubai Digital Strategy, which aims to digitise all aspects of life in the emirate and reinforce its position among the world’s top three cities for living and economic opportunity. The strategy is driven by advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence and Fourth Industrial Revolution tools, with a strong focus on customer-centricity that places people at the core of digital transformation.
The IMD Smart City Index is based on comprehensive resident surveys, reflecting how people experience services and how effectively digital solutions enhance their daily lives. This resident-first approach is closely aligned with Dubai’s vision of becoming the best city in the world to live and work in, where technology serves as a bridge to well-being, opportunity, and sustainable growth for all.
Source: Business Events Dubai
