// CITY_ASSESSMENT
How smart is Chester?
Chester, United Kingdom, scores 65.4% against the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework in 2026 — ranked #62 of 386 cities assessed, with every finding traceable to a public source.
Smart score
65.4%
Rank
#62 / 386
Criteria present
45 / 86
Evidence coverage
77.9%
Chester's smart city score by area
8 present · 3 partial · 0 absent · 4 not assessed
5 present · 5 partial · 2 absent
9 present · 3 partial · 0 absent · 1 not assessed
7 present · 2 partial · 2 absent
9 present · 2 partial · 0 absent · 2 not assessed
5 present · 0 partial · 0 absent · 3 not assessed
2 present · 7 partial · 0 absent · 5 not assessed
Where Chester is strong
- ▸Air Quality & Monitoring
- ▸Health & Digital Health
- ▸Inclusion & Civic Participation
- ▸Culture, Tourism & Recreation
- ▸Food Security & Urban Agriculture
Where the gaps are
- ▸Urban Data Platform & Digital Twin
- ▸Climate Adaptation & Heat
- ▸Innovation & Economic Development
- ▸Critical Infrastructure Resilience
- ▸Smart Traffic & Electric Vehicles
Evidence highlights
Open Data & Transparency · Official open data portal
Cheshire West and Chester Council, which governs Chester, publishes data on data.gov.uk, the UK's National Data Library, as indicated by search results for 'chester' from this publisher.
https://data.gov.uk/search?q=chester&publisher=cheshire-west-and-chester-councilOpen Data & Transparency · Clear open licensing
The Open Government Licence (OGL) version 3 is available for public sector information in the UK, encouraging free and flexible re-use with only a few conditions, provided the source is acknowledged.
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/Air Quality & Monitoring · Air-quality monitoring network
Cheshire West and Chester Council operates monitoring stations that provide near real-time air quality data, specifically monitoring nitrogen dioxide borough-wide using diffusion tubes, with three traffic-related Air Quality Management Areas including one i…
https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/news/cheshire-west-and-chester-air-quality-websiteAir Quality & Monitoring · Real-time air-quality data
Cheshire West and Chester Council launched a new website on January 9, 2023, providing residents with access to live and near real-time air quality data from its monitoring stations, which also feeds into the UK Air Quality website.
https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/news/cheshire-west-and-chester-air-quality-websiteAbout this assessment
Chester was assessed against the 86 criteria of the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework on 2026-07-10 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.