City assessment
How smart is Sendai?
Sendai scores 58.1% against the ISO 37120-series aligned smart city framework in 2026, ranked #229 of 386 by smart reach and #241 on the evidence alone, with every finding traceable to a public source.
Each criterion counts in full where the evidence shows it present, half where partial and nothing where absent, weighted by its category. 20 of 86 are not yet assessed and count as nothing until a finding is made either way. Last assessed 19 Oct 2026.
Smart reach rank
#229 / 386
Smart score
58.1%
Evidenced rank
#241 / 387
Criteria present
42 / 86
Evidence coverage
67.4%
Sendai's smart city score by area
8 present · 3 partial · 1 absent · 3 not yet assessed
7 present · 1 partial · 1 absent · 3 not yet assessed
7 present · 3 partial · 2 absent · 1 not yet assessed
2 present · 1 partial · 2 absent · 6 not yet assessed
4 present · 4 partial · 0 absent · 5 not yet assessed
5 present · 2 partial · 0 absent · 1 not yet assessed
9 present · 2 partial · 2 absent · 1 not yet assessed
Where Sendai is strong
- ▸Urban Data Platform & Digital Twin
- ▸Air Quality & Monitoring
- ▸Culture, Tourism & Recreation
- ▸Food Security & Urban Agriculture
- ▸Disaster Risk & Resilience
Where the evidence shows gaps
- ▸Energy & Smart Grid · 2 absent
- ▸Governance & Smart-City Operating Model · 2 absent
- ▸Digital Government Services · 1 absent, 2 partial
- ▸Green Space & Biodiversity · 2 partial
- ▸Education & Digital Skills · 2 partial
Not yet assessed
20 of 86 criteria have no finding yet, either way. They count as nothing in the score until one is made, and they are not gaps.
- Connectivity & ICT Infrastructure3 of 4
- Smart Traffic & Electric Vehicles3 of 4
- Water & Sanitation3 of 4
- Housing & Urban Planning2 of 3
- Public Safety & Emergency2 of 4
- Climate Action & Emissions1 of 3
- Critical Infrastructure Resilience1 of 3
- Education & Digital Skills1 of 3
- Health & Digital Health1 of 3
- Inclusion & Civic Participation1 of 3
- Innovation & Economic Development1 of 4
- Solid Waste & Circular Economy1 of 4
Evidence highlights
Open Data & Transparency · Official open data portal
Sendai City operates an official open data portal, '仙台市オープンデータポータル' (Sendai City Open Data Portal), and a '仙台データダッシュボード' (Sendai Data Dashboard) where datasets can be searched and downloaded.
https://data.city.sendai.jp/Open Data & Transparency · Clear open licensing
Sendai City's transportation data, including bus information (GTFS-JP and GTFS-Realtime), is explicitly licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
https://ckan.odpt.org/dataset/sendai_municipal_bus_realtime_informationOpen Data & Transparency · High-value datasets published
Sendai publishes high-value datasets including transportation data (bus operation data in CSV, GTFS-JP, GTFS-Realtime, subway ridership, bus location information), environmental data (average temperature, precipitation, flood sensor data), and population data.
https://data.city.sendai.jp/Digital Government Services · Online payments for taxes & fees
The eLTAX portal allows for online payment of various local taxes, including resident tax, property tax, and automobile tax, using methods such as smartphone apps, credit cards, direct debit, internet banking, and Pay-easy.
https://www.eltax.lta.go.jp/About this assessment
Sendai was assessed against the 86 criteria of the ISO 37120-series aligned smart city framework on 19 Oct 2026 by AI agents gathering evidence from official public sources. Each criterion is marked present, partial or absent, or left not yet assessed, and every finding links to where it was found. Cities are re-assessed in runs, not continuously: the latest finished on 24 Oct 2026.