• Barcelona, Spain, is the world’s leading city for mobility innovation with a population of over 3 million people, followed by Berlin, Germany and London, UK.
  • Copenhagen, Denmark, ranks as the world’s best city for mobility innovation with a population of between 600,000 and 3 million people, followed by Dortmund, Germany and Amsterdam, Netherlands.
  • Lund, Sweden, is the best ranking city for mobility innovation with a population of between 50,000 and 600,000 people, followed by Aalborg, Denmark and Kortrijk, Belgium.

EasyPark Group, the global parking tech company, has released a study based on The Cities of the Future Index that reveals the cities around the world that are adopting the most advanced and cleanest transport infrastructure solutions. As mobility innovators, EasyPark Group understands the opportunity to accelerate green schemes, like car-free zones, that the pandemic presented and recognise that the modern city landscape is evolving accordingly. Some cities around the world are developing in line with climate targets and creating sustainable urban areas that enhance the lives of their inhabitants. The company therefore set out to determine which global smart cities are leading the way in embracing technological advancements in the field of mobility.  

– We recently conducted the Cities of the Future Index which contained a section that specifically looked at mobility innovation and three areas within it: parking innovation, traffic management and clean transport. Mobility should be of utmost importance to governing bodies, and therefore we conducted a deep dive to reveal the cities that are excelling in this area. The aim of the study is to show the cities that are leading the way in implementing sustainable, forward-thinking and useful solutions to everyday mobility challenges. By revealing the best places in the world for mobility innovation, we hope that other cities will look to the highest ranking cities and emulate their methods to make their cities even more liveable, says Johan Birgersson, CEO of EasyPark Group.


How the study was conducted

To evaluate the level of innovation in mobility in each location, researchers focused on three main indicators: innovative parking solutions, the overall traffic management system and how clean transport is in each location. A score of between 50 and 100 was then established for each factor, based on the result each city achieved in the Cities of the Future Index 2021. 

A score for the Parking Innovation in each city was calculated by assessing the overall number of parking spaces per capita, the number of parking spaces capable of accepting digital payments, the number of parking technology providers operating in the city, the civilian adoption level of parking technology and how widespread parking technology implementation is.

To calculate a score for Traffic Management in each city the congestion levels, time spent in traffic during a commute and citizen dissatisfaction due to long commute times for each location was considered.

To establish how Clean the Transport is in each city, the number of electric cars per capita and new electric car sales, electric car charging stations per capita and CO2 emissions were assessed.

All scores are out of 100, with 100 being the highest possible score.

Findings

The table below reveals the top 20 cities in overall mobility innovation, with a population of over 3 million people.

  1. Barcelona, Spain 100.00
  2. Berlin, Germany  97.45
  3. London, UK  97.33
  4. Rotterdam, Netherlands  96.68
  5. Manchester, UK  96.03
  6. Madrid, Spain 95.03
  7. Milan, Italy 94.92
  8. Minneapolis, USA 92.43
  9. Paris, France 92.15
  10. Birmingham, UK. 90.81
  11. Busan, South Korea  90.19
  12. Cologne (Cologne Bonn Area), Germany  89.55
  13. Tokyo, Japan  89.99
  14. Taipei, Taiwan  86.88
  15. New York, USA  86.73
  16. Seattle, USA  86.61
  17. Fort Worth, USA  85.62
  18. Montreal, Canada. 85.50
  19. Washington D.C., USA  84.49
  20. San Diego, USA. 83.38


The table below reveals the top 20 cities in overall mobility innovation, with a population of between 600,000 and 3 million people.

  1. Copenhagen, Denmark  100.00
  2. Dortmund, Germany  95.01
  3. Amsterdam, Netherlands  91.17
  4. Zurich, Switzerland  91.17
  5. Vienna, Austria  86.71
  6. Kyoto, Japan  85.72
  7. Bilbao, Spain  83.21
  8. Malaga, Spain  83.11
  9. Prague, Czechia  82.40
  10. Utrecht, Netherlands  81.67
  11. Valencia, Spain  80.26
  12. Stockholm, Sweden  79.81
  13. Edinburgh, UK  79.18
  14. Helsinki, Finland  78.33
  15. Hanover, Germany  77.41
  16. Gothenburg, Sweden  76.43
  17. Oslo, Norway  76.05
  18. Durham, USA  75.11
  19. Quebec, Canada  75.04
  20. Indianapolis, USA  74.54


The table below reveals the top 20 cities in overall mobility innovation, with a population of between 50,000 and 600,000 people.

  1. Lund, Sweden  100.00
  2. Aalborg, Denmark  98.45
  3. Kortrijk, Belgium  93.42
  4. Aarhus, Denmark  90.98
  5. Rostock, Germany  90.55
  6. Aveiro, Portugal  89.52
  7. Pisa, Italy  88.52
  8. Santa Barbara, USA  88.18
  9. Porvoo, Finland  88.01
  10. Innsbruck, Austria  86.68
  11. Linz, Austria  85.83
  12. Leuven, Belgium  84.84
  13. Darmstadt, Germany  84.12
  14. Espoo, Finland  84.02
  15. Stavanger, Norway  81.62
  16. Angers, France  81.33
  17. Malmo, Sweden  80.48
  18. Reims, France  77.72
  19. Graz, Austria  77.37
  20. Vantaa, Finland. 77.34


About Smart City Mobility Index:
The cities were divided into three categories depending on their size: cities with more than 3 million inhabitants, cities with between 600,000 and 3 million inhabitants and cities with between 50,000 and 600,000 inhabitants. Population data refers to each city’s metropolitan area. For the final list of locations, the top 50 in each category were chosen; urban areas with insufficient data were excluded.

Read more about the full Cities of the Future Index and see the full ranking here: www.easyparkgroup.com/studies/cities-of-the-future/en/