CITYMIRROR

BY DATACORRIDOR

City assessment

How smart is Sunderland?

Sunderland, United Kingdom, scores 77.4% against the ISO 37120-series aligned smart city framework in 2026, ranked #110 of 386 by smart reach and #77 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. 3 of 86 are not yet assessed and count as nothing until a finding is made either way. Last assessed 24 Oct 2026.

Smart reach rank

#110 / 386

Smart score

77.4%

Evidenced rank

#77 / 387

Criteria present

50 / 86

Evidence coverage

96.5%

Sunderland's smart city score by area

Data, Digital & Smart Foundation90%

12 present · 3 partial · 0 absent

Mobility & Transport72%

6 present · 5 partial · 0 absent · 1 not yet assessed

Environment, Energy & Climate65%

4 present · 9 partial · 0 absent

Infrastructure, Water & Waste77%

6 present · 5 partial · 0 absent

Health, Education, Safety & Inclusion78%

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

Economy, Innovation & Employment100%

8 present · 0 partial · 0 absent

Governance, Resilience & Operating Model68%

5 present · 9 partial · 0 absent

Where Sunderland is strong

  • ▸Open Data & Transparency
  • ▸Connectivity & ICT Infrastructure
  • ▸Urban Data Platform & Digital Twin
  • ▸Public Transport & Real-Time Information
  • ▸Health & Digital Health

Where the evidence shows gaps

  • ▸Climate Action & Emissions · 3 partial
  • ▸Digital Government Services · 3 partial
  • ▸Active & Shared Mobility · 3 partial
  • ▸Energy & Smart Grid · 3 partial
  • ▸Governance & Smart-City Operating Model · 3 partial

Not yet assessed

3 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.

  • Active & Shared Mobility1 of 4
  • Inclusion & Civic Participation1 of 3
  • Public Safety & Emergency1 of 4

Evidence highlights

Open Data & Transparency · Clear open licensing

Sunderland City Council publishes datasets, such as 'Sunderland Museums', under the UK Open Government Licence (OGL), which is an explicit open license.

https://www.sunderland.gov.uk/open-data-licence

Open Data & Transparency · Programmatic API access

The UTMC Open Data Service explicitly states it provides traffic and travel related data sets through an 'open Application Programming Interface (API)' that is detailed on its site, allowing free access to live data.

https://www.netraveldata.co.uk/api/

Connectivity & ICT Infrastructure · Fibre / high-speed broadband coverage

CityFibre is undertaking a £62m full fibre investment to bring connectivity within reach of almost every home and business in Sunderland, with work having started on August 16, 2021.

https://www.cityfibre.com/news/cityfibre-gets-to-work-on-future-proofing-sunderlands-digital-foundations-with-62m-full-fibre-investment

Public Transport & Real-Time Information · Open schedule data (GTFS)

Route and timetable data for the North East of England, which includes Sunderland, is published as open data under a UK Open Government Licence via Data Mill North.

https://datamillnorth.org/dataset/traveline

Funding Sunderland can bid for

63 open calls: grants, tenders and innovation competitions Sunderland is eligible for, including UK-wide schemes any place can apply to. Every entry links to its source.

Showing 12 of 63; see them all in the explorer.

About this assessment

Sunderland was assessed against the 86 criteria of the ISO 37120-series aligned smart city framework on 24 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.

Explore Sunderland on the live mapCompare Sunderland with peersSmart cities in United KingdomAll rankings