New York Ranked Number 1 Smart City for North America in 2023

A new study from Juniper Research has selected New York as the leading smart city in North America in 2023. Behind New York in the top 5 are Toronto, Montréal, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Juniper Research’s ranking of 50 world cities is based on an evaluation of many different smart city aspects, covering transportation and infrastructure, energy and lighting, city management and technology, and urban connectivity.

The analysis identified New York as a leading city due to its focus on increasing sensor deployments, modernization of its transit infrastructure, and its progress on smart grid deployment. As such, New York was recognized as having a clear vision for its future as a smart city, which is critical for other cities to develop if they wish to emulate its success.

“The Americas are led in smart city terms by cities in North America, with Latin America lacking the comprehensive data infrastructure that is being built in North America. As such, cities in Latin America must build longer-term visions that focus on how to comprehensively harness data to improve urban environments, or they will continue to fall behind,“ explained research co-author Nick Maynard.

Hardware and software spending on smart city deployments in the Americas is forecast to reach $23 billion by 2028, from $9.5 billion in 2023; representing a growth of 144%. Spending is growing much faster in Latin America, at 285% over the next 5 years, compared to North America at 115% over the same period. This faster growth in Latin America reflects the large emphasis being placed on city improvements in this market and represents a key opportunity for smart city service providers, platforms, and connectivity providers to target.