Singapore is among the top five ranking smart cities globally for 2015 released recently by Juniper Research. It is also the only Asian city in the list.
The Smart City Rankings have been compiled following an analysis of each city’s ‘smart’ capabilities, with particular focus on their use of smart grids, smart traffic management and smart street lighting, alongside aspects such as technological capability and social cohesion.
The top five cities in the rankings were Barcelona, New York, London, Nice, and Singapore.
Juniper said the leader, Barcelona, performed consistently well across all metrics and serves as an exciting model of success from which others can learn, bolstered by strong environmentally sustainable initiatives.
While the other top cities also excelled in areas such as technological capability and a willingness to engage with citizens through open data, the report noted that they still require greater emphasis on implementing environmentally positive projects.
Juniper’s report has found that smart grid initiatives will achieve $10.7 billion savings annually by 2019 through a combination of reduced energy consumption and emissions reductions in smart cities.
The reduced emissions are equivalent to those produced by the annual consumption of 130 million barrels of oil.
It added that despite substantial differences in energy market regulation and policy, there is a strong desire on a global scale to implement a ‘smarter grid’. National energy concerns, caused by emissions reduction policies, transmission line loss and grid reliability are among the numerous drivers behind the need to transition to a ‘2-way’ grid.
“Education is key – certainly in terms of stakeholder information sharing as well as promoting the full benefits of a smart grid beyond a vague notion of a reduction in energy bills,” said the report’s author report author Steffen Sorrell.