What is the smartest city in United Kingdom?

Leeds is the smartest city in United Kingdom in the 2026 rankings, scoring 83.8% 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?

75 United Kingdom cities are assessed and ranked, with an average smart score of 67% across 86 evidence-based criteria spanning open data, mobility, environment, governance and the economy.

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Smart Cities in United Kingdom

The 75 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

67%

Top city

Leeds

Top score

83.8%

In UK	City	Score	Global rank	Criteria present
1	Leeds	83.8%	#5	68/86
2	Belfast	82.6%	#6	65/86
3	London	82.3%	#7	64/86
4	Plymouth	80.7%	#9	63/86
5	Edinburgh	79.6%	#10	60/86
6	Perth, Scotland	79.2%	#11	55/86
7	York	77.8%	#13	60/86
8	Manchester	77.7%	#14	56/86
9	Liverpool	76.5%	#15	56/86
10	Cambridge	76%	#17	57/86
11	Glasgow	75.2%	#19	50/86
12	Exeter	74.9%	#20	56/86
13	Newcastle upon Tyne	74.1%	#21	58/86
14	Coventry	73.2%	#22	53/86
15	Chelmsford	73.2%	#23	56/86
16	Wrexham	71.9%	#26	52/86
17	Derby	71.9%	#27	53/86
18	Bristol	71.8%	#29	50/86
19	Carlisle	71.1%	#30	51/86
20	Sheffield	71.1%	#31	52/86
21	Oxford	71.1%	#32	53/86
22	Cardiff	71%	#34	48/86
23	Milton Keynes	70.3%	#36	54/86
24	Ripon	70%	#37	50/86
25	Bradford	69.7%	#38	55/86
26	Dundee	69%	#39	50/86
27	Kingston upon Hull	68.8%	#41	53/86
28	Sunderland	68%	#45	37/86
29	Salford	68%	#46	49/86
30	Birmingham	67.8%	#47	47/86
31	Colchester	67.8%	#48	48/86
32	Ely	67.5%	#49	47/86
33	Lincoln	67.4%	#50	48/86
34	Swansea	67.4%	#51	43/86
35	Portsmouth	67.1%	#52	40/86
36	Preston	67%	#53	50/86
37	Nottingham	66.7%	#54	50/86
38	Stirling	66.4%	#56	33/86
39	Winchester	65.8%	#60	43/86
40	Wells	65.4%	#61	46/86
41	Chester	65.4%	#62	45/86
42	Newry	65.4%	#63	43/86
43	Newport, Wales	65.2%	#65	40/86
44	Leicester	64.8%	#67	43/86
45	Lancaster	64.8%	#68	44/86
46	Bangor, County Down	64.8%	#69	45/86
47	Armagh	64%	#73	46/86
48	Hereford	63.7%	#75	38/86
49	Chichester	63.6%	#76	39/86
50	St Davids	63.6%	#77	47/86
51	Peterborough	63.6%	#78	45/86
52	Bath	63.5%	#79	42/86
53	Brighton & Hove	63.3%	#80	46/86
54	Inverness	63.3%	#81	42/86
55	Lisburn	63.2%	#82	45/86
56	Salisbury	63.1%	#83	40/86
57	Wolverhampton	62.6%	#85	46/86
58	Lichfield	62.3%	#87	39/86
59	Wakefield	61.7%	#90	46/86
60	Gloucester	61.5%	#91	42/86
61	Doncaster	61.2%	#93	42/86
62	Londonderry	60.3%	#99	41/86
63	Norwich	59.8%	#105	36/86
64	Canterbury	59.8%	#106	34/86
65	Southampton	58.8%	#111	29/86
66	Dunfermline	58.7%	#112	29/86
67	Worcester	58.7%	#113	32/86
68	St Asaph	58.5%	#114	41/86
69	Truro	58.4%	#116	39/86
70	Southend-on-Sea	58.4%	#117	34/86
71	Durham	58.1%	#120	40/86
72	Aberdeen	58%	#123	38/86
73	Bangor, Gwynedd	53.8%	#152	35/86
74	St Albans	52.9%	#160	33/86
75	Stoke-on-Trent	50.8%	#176	33/86

How United Kingdom's smart cities are ranked

Each of the 75 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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