// CITY_ASSESSMENT

How smart is Dhahran?

Dhahran scores 27.1% against the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework in 2026 — ranked #315 of 386 cities assessed, with every finding traceable to a public source.

Smart score

27.1%

Rank

#315 / 386

Criteria present

16 / 86

Evidence coverage

37.2%

Dhahran's smart city score by area

Data, Digital & Smart Foundation67%

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

Mobility & Transport0%

0 present · 0 partial · 0 absent · 12 not assessed

Environment, Energy & Climate67%

1 present · 2 partial · 0 absent · 10 not assessed

Infrastructure, Water & Waste43%

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

Health, Education, Safety & Inclusion79%

4 present · 3 partial · 0 absent · 6 not assessed

Economy, Innovation & Employment80%

3 present · 2 partial · 0 absent · 3 not assessed

Governance, Resilience & Operating Model79%

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

Where Dhahran is strong

  • Education & Digital Skills
  • Climate Adaptation & Heat
  • Food Security & Urban Agriculture
  • Open Data & Transparency
  • Air Quality & Monitoring

Where the gaps are

  • Energy & Smart Grid
  • Disaster Risk & Resilience
  • Culture, Tourism & Recreation
  • Health & Digital Health
  • Critical Infrastructure Resilience

Evidence highlights

Open Data & Transparency · Official open data portal

The Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) website mentions a 'General Data Portal' (بوابة البيانات العامة) that provides data to help users make decisions.

https://scfhs.org.sa/ar

Open Data & Transparency · Programmatic API access

An API endpoint from balady.gov.sa, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, explicitly named 'open-data' (apiservices.balady.gov.sa/v1/momrah-services/open-data) returns a JSON response, indicating programmatic access to data.

https://apiservices.balady.gov.sa/v1/momrah-services/open-data

Housing & Urban Planning · Online planning / permits

The Ministry of Municipalities and Housing in Saudi Arabia provides several electronic services for permits and planning, including requests for sidewalk and road work permits, issuing building occupancy certificates, and approving urban plans, all availabl…

https://www.momrah.gov.sa/

Education & Digital Skills · Education provision data

The National eLearning Center (NeLC) has launched a "National Digital Learning Indicator 2025–2026" which features real-time data-driven integration, indicating the collection and use of education provision data.

https://nelc.gov.sa/en

About this assessment

Dhahran was assessed against the 86 criteria of the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework on 2026-07-12 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.