What is the smartest city in United Kingdom?

Leeds is the smartest city in United Kingdom in the 2026 rankings, scoring 89.8% against the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework, ahead of Belfast and London. Rankings are based on public evidence, with every score traceable to its sources.

How many smart cities in United Kingdom are ranked?

77 United Kingdom cities are assessed and ranked, with an average smart score of 72.7% across 86 evidence-based criteria spanning open data, mobility, environment, governance and the economy.

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Smart Cities in United Kingdom

The 77 assessed smart cities in United Kingdom, ranked against 86 evidence-based criteria from the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework — what each city verifiably has, not how it markets itself. Every score links to its public sources.

Cities ranked

Average score

72.7%

Top city

Leeds

Top score

89.8%

In UK	City	Score	Global rank	Criteria present
1	Leeds	89.8%	#1	73/86
2	Belfast	89%	#3	73/86
3	London	87.1%	#5	71/86
4	Plymouth	85.3%	#9	67/86
5	Liverpool	83.9%	#11	67/86
6	Edinburgh	83.7%	#12	66/86
7	Manchester	83.1%	#13	63/86
8	Newcastle upon Tyne	83%	#15	67/86
9	Exeter	82.8%	#16	63/86
10	Coventry	81.9%	#18	63/86
11	Dundee	81.6%	#19	63/86
12	Cambridge	81.3%	#20	63/86
13	York	81.3%	#21	64/86
14	Perth, Scotland	80.9%	#22	58/86
15	Chelmsford	80.5%	#23	62/86
16	Sheffield	79.3%	#26	64/86
17	Derby	78.6%	#28	62/86
18	Milton Keynes	78.1%	#30	62/86
19	Bristol	78%	#31	59/86
20	Colchester	77.8%	#32	59/86
21	Salford	77.8%	#33	63/86
22	Birmingham	77.6%	#34	60/86
23	Bradford	77.4%	#35	63/86
24	Nottingham	77.2%	#36	61/86
25	Kingston upon Hull	77%	#37	62/86
26	Wrexham	76.5%	#38	56/86
27	Glasgow	76.5%	#39	52/86
28	Portsmouth	75.8%	#42	49/86
29	Ripon	75.2%	#44	58/86
30	Preston	75.1%	#45	58/86
31	Cardiff	74.9%	#46	52/86
32	Ely	73.8%	#49	54/86
33	Lisburn	73.7%	#50	58/86
34	Wells	73.5%	#51	56/86
35	Southend-on-Sea	73.5%	#52	50/86
36	Carlisle	73.4%	#53	54/86
37	Hereford	73.2%	#54	52/86
38	Oxford	73%	#56	56/86
39	Swansea	72.8%	#59	49/86
40	Bath	72.7%	#61	54/86
41	Lancaster	72.5%	#62	53/86
42	Newry	72.5%	#63	52/86
43	Winchester	71.6%	#65	51/86
44	Leicester	71.4%	#67	51/86
45	Armagh	70.9%	#69	55/86
46	Chichester	70.6%	#71	48/86
47	Newport, Wales	70.6%	#72	44/86
48	St Davids	70.5%	#73	53/86
49	Sunderland	70.4%	#75	41/86
50	Bangor, County Down	70.2%	#78	53/86
51	Inverness	70.1%	#80	51/86
52	Londonderry	69.5%	#84	50/86
53	Wolverhampton	69.5%	#85	54/86
54	Lincoln	69.2%	#86	50/86
55	Stirling	68.7%	#89	36/86
56	Chester	68.6%	#90	49/86
57	Lichfield	68.5%	#91	47/86
58	Canterbury	68.2%	#97	45/86
59	Brighton & Hove	67.9%	#100	53/86
60	St Asaph	66.9%	#106	48/86
61	Wakefield	66.9%	#107	52/86
62	Salisbury	66.8%	#109	42/86
63	Doncaster	66.8%	#110	47/86
64	Norwich	66.7%	#111	47/86
65	Peterborough	66%	#118	46/86
66	Dunfermline	65.5%	#122	38/86
67	Southampton	64.5%	#126	34/86
68	Truro	64.4%	#128	46/86
69	Gloucester	62.6%	#139	44/86
70	Stoke-on-Trent	62.6%	#140	44/86
71	Worcester	62.5%	#142	37/86
72	Aberdeen	62.2%	#146	42/86
73	Bangor, Gwynedd	62.1%	#148	43/86
74	Durham	60.9%	#158	44/86
75	St Albans	60%	#167	41/86
76	City Of London	49.3%	#235	37/86
77	Westminster	45.6%	#256	33/86

How United Kingdom's smart cities are ranked

Each of the 77 cities in United Kingdom is assessed against the same 86 criteria as every other city worldwide, so the scores are directly comparable. AI agents gather evidence from official public sources and mark each criterion present, partial or absent — read more about how the assessment works.

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