City Vision Score 2024, Milan is confirmed as the smartest city in Italy

Milan is once again confirmed as the smartest city in Italy this year. And in the top 10 of the "smart" municipalities there is not a single one below the Rubicon. Proof that there is still a strong gap between North and South. This is the most striking result of the City Vision Score, the ranking of smart cities in Italy now in its second edition, presented during the States General of City Vision on 21 and 22 October in Padua. Realized by Blum and the consulting firm Prokalos, the City Vision Score measures the degree of smartness of all Italian municipalities on a scale of 10 to 100. It aggregates and synthesises 30 elementary indicators referring to 6 dimensions of the smart city concept: smart governance, smart economy, smart environment, smart living, smart mobility, smart people..

The study confirms the chronic North-South gap, with the North East in particular emerging as the smartest macro area in Italy. Scrolling down the general score, as mentioned, the 'smartest' Italian city is Milan, followed on the podium by Credera Rubbiano (Cremona) and Cordovado (Pordenone). They are followed in fourth place by Imola (Bologna), in fifth place Casaletto Vaprio (Cremona), in sixth place San Secondo Parmense (Parma) and in seventh place Arquà Petrarca (Padua). Soverzene (Belluno) in ninth place and Collebeato (Brescia) in tenth place close the general top 10. The first "smart" municipality not from the North to be encountered is Bagno a Ripoli, in the province of Florence, Tuscany, which ranks 39th in the general ranking, and first in the top five in central Italy (where Tuscany is represented with 4 out of 5 municipalities). To meet a southern Italian municipality in the general score, one must instead go down to 163rd place, where Fara San Martino (Chieti, in Abruzzo) is positioned, which is also the first municipality in the southern top five, where - with the exception of Masullas (Oristano) in second place - only municipalities from Abruzzo are encountered.

The research data, read through the lens of the provincial capitals, do not show a different picture: the top-50 includes only one southern capital, Teramo (Abruzzo). This year's top 10 of the "smartest" capitals is the total prerogative of the northern cities, and only three regions (Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna). If we broaden our view of the top 20, we find 3 cities in the centre. Milan is confirmed in first place, followed by Treviso and Parma on the podium. The fourth position is for Vicenza, while the next ones go to Bologna in fifth place, Padua in sixth, Pordenone in seventh, followed by Brescia in eighth, Bergamo in ninth and Ferrara in tenth. We continue with Modena in eleventh place, Pisa in twelfth, followed by Forlì, Florence and Piacenza. In sixteenth place we find Monza, followed by Lodi, Trento, Turin and Ancora to close the top 20. Talking of very large cities, to find the Capital, Rome, we have to go down to 46th place in the ranking of the smartest capitals and 1,412th in that of all municipalities. Although - reading the score - the North-South divide is overwhelming, analysing the ranking there are some surprises. For example, Rome (in 46th place) and Teramo (Abruzzo, in 49th place) are a few places above Bolzano (54th place). Oristano, Caserta, Lecce, Benevento and Bari are all ranked just above Aosta in the ranking of the smartest capitals: they are in 72nd, 73rd, 74th, 75th and 77th place respectively, while the capital of Valle d'Aosta is in 78th place.

City Vision then rewards a number of Italian municipalities for "good practices". In particular, this year's awards go to the municipalities of: Gualdo Tadino (Ancona, Marche), which with its Digitadino virtual counter wins the Open Fiber special prize; Cirò Marina (Crotone, Calabria) for its "Spiagge Amiche" (Friendly Beaches) accessibility project; Seregno (Monza Brianza), for its Climate Plan to respond to the climate crisis; Rocca Sinibalda (Rieti) as the leader of a group of 10 municipalities in the upper Sabina region and their "IN. Alta Sabina'; finally, ASL5 of La Spezia for its 'CREATIlaVITA' project, aimed at overcoming the social stigma associated with mental disorders. The Municipality of Pesaro was awarded the City Vision special prize for its path of smart transformation through innovation and culture. "For us, Smart city means not only technology, but above all the centrality of the person," explains Domenico Lanzilotta, director of City Vision. "This is why, for the second year, we have carried out this study on smart cities and, during the States General of City Vision, we award prizes to the most virtuous municipalities throughout Italy: to reward those who do good things for their citizens and stimulate good practices that make cities smarter and more inclusive. "With the score we want above all to encourage the sharing of Italian excellence," comments Michele Pianetta, founding partner of Prokalos, the company that carried out the research, "and to push all municipalities to 'copy from the best'. The fact that this system works is shown by the fact that even where there are fewer smart cities, such as in the South, many small virtuous realities are beginning to flourish, and they deserve to be valorised.