// CITY_ASSESSMENT

How smart is Wellington?

Wellington scores 48.2% against the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework in 2026 — ranked #185 of 386 cities assessed, with every finding traceable to a public source.

Smart score

48.2%

Rank

#185 / 386

Criteria present

24 / 86

Evidence coverage

68.6%

Wellington's smart city score by area

Data, Digital & Smart Foundation55%

2 present · 8 partial · 1 absent · 4 not assessed

Mobility & Transport67%

1 present · 2 partial · 0 absent · 9 not assessed

Environment, Energy & Climate85%

7 present · 3 partial · 0 absent · 3 not assessed

Infrastructure, Water & Waste56%

1 present · 8 partial · 0 absent · 2 not assessed

Health, Education, Safety & Inclusion73%

6 present · 4 partial · 1 absent · 2 not assessed

Economy, Innovation & Employment57%

2 present · 4 partial · 1 absent · 1 not assessed

Governance, Resilience & Operating Model67%

5 present · 6 partial · 1 absent · 2 not assessed

Where Wellington is strong

  • Climate Action & Emissions
  • Disaster Risk & Resilience
  • Health & Digital Health
  • Culture, Tourism & Recreation
  • Food Security & Urban Agriculture

Where the gaps are

  • Connectivity & ICT Infrastructure
  • Public Transport & Real-Time Information
  • Active & Shared Mobility
  • Innovation & Economic Development
  • Governance & Smart-City Operating Model

Evidence highlights

Public Transport & Real-Time Information · Public transport network

Greater Wellington manages and funds all public transport for the region, referring to it as Metlink, Wellington's public transport system.

https://www.gw.govt.nz/transport/

Air Quality & Monitoring · Air-quality monitoring network

Greater Wellington has an air quality monitoring programme that measures indicator air pollutants from traffic and home heating at sites across its region, and reports on air monitoring and bus emissions.

https://www.gw.govt.nz/environment/air-quality/

Climate Action & Emissions · Climate action plan

Greater Wellington has an "Organisational Climate Emergency Action Plan" and a "Regional Climate Emergency Action Plan", and has also released "The Wellington Regional Transport Emissions Reduction Pathway" as a strategy for a low-carbon future.

https://www.gw.govt.nz/environment/climate-change/

Climate Action & Emissions · Greenhouse-gas inventory

The Greater Wellington region measures and reports its greenhouse gas emissions using the Global Protocol methodology for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, with a dataset going back to 2000/01, and published a "Greater Wellington Region GH…

https://www.gw.govt.nz/environment/climate-change/regional-emissions-monitoring/

About this assessment

Wellington was assessed against the 86 criteria of the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework on 2026-07-11 by AI agents gathering evidence from official public sources. Each criterion is marked present, partial or absent, and every finding links to where it was found. Scores refresh continuously as cities publish new evidence.