// CITY_ASSESSMENT

How smart is Newcastle upon Tyne?

Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, scores 74.1% against the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework in 2026 — ranked #21 of 386 cities assessed, with every finding traceable to a public source.

Smart score

74.1%

Rank

#21 / 386

Criteria present

58 / 86

Evidence coverage

80.2%

Newcastle upon Tyne's smart city score by area

Data, Digital & Smart Foundation89%

11 present · 3 partial · 0 absent · 1 not assessed

Mobility & Transport89%

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

Environment, Energy & Climate96%

11 present · 1 partial · 0 absent · 1 not assessed

Infrastructure, Water & Waste94%

7 present · 1 partial · 0 absent · 3 not assessed

Health, Education, Safety & Inclusion92%

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

Economy, Innovation & Employment92%

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

Governance, Resilience & Operating Model94%

7 present · 1 partial · 0 absent · 6 not assessed

Where Newcastle upon Tyne is strong

  • Open Data & Transparency
  • Urban Data Platform & Digital Twin
  • Active & Shared Mobility
  • Air Quality & Monitoring
  • Energy & Smart Grid

Where the gaps are

  • Smart Traffic & Electric Vehicles
  • Solid Waste & Circular Economy
  • Innovation & Economic Development

Evidence highlights

Open Data & Transparency · Official open data portal

Newcastle City Council operates an 'Open data' section on its website, publishing various datasets for public use.

https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQF6b20Wu4h7i5UsZv7-0N0VuO68-YTeeHCqLxL-NoA0L2q5bMf3vcz0GpRa59GA4EZxjLf1zXSg-y53jWhaMIIsD7LbThtYR3MM3ApL4Mvo-yfnoANXHTJH-XrbwcZrUYNdnZinMkReuA0tz0obcjHGQHsGI_p-HSJcofNxcgJr96PT

Open Data & Transparency · Programmatic API access

The Urban Observatory provides an API for accessing urban sensing data across the city, with a documented API endpoint and specification available in OpenAPI format.

https://api.usb.urbanobservatory.ac.uk/

Connectivity & ICT Infrastructure · Public Wi-Fi network

Newcastle and Gateshead provide free public Wi-Fi hotspots through a partnership between their city councils, with BT offering outdoor Wi-Fi in key city centre pedestrian routes and public buildings such as the Civic Centre, customer service centres, librar…

https://ncleus.com/our-work/free-public-wi-fi-in-newcastle-and-gateshead/

Active & Shared Mobility · Cycling network / lanes

Newcastle upon Tyne has a published cycling map from the Newcastle Cycling Campaign, which details car-free routes, Bikeability Level 2 friendly routes, and connections where bikes should be walked. The city center also provides over 3000 publicly accessibl…

https://newcycling.org/information/newcastle-cycling-map/

About this assessment

Newcastle upon Tyne 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.