Bhubaneswar: UK-based market research agency Juniper Research has put Bhubaneswar among the top 20 best performing smart cities in the world.
Bhubaneswar is the only Indian city to make it to the list. The study focused on four broad areas such as mobility, health, safety and productivity. Bhubaneswar ranked 13th on the safety parameter while it came in at 20th on mobility, health and productivity.
The study, titled Global Smart City Performance Index-2017, was released on March 12 on the official website of Juniper Research. While assessing the performance of the cities, the study also suggested measures for improvement to top performing cities in the four mentioned areas.
"It is indeed the result of our hard work and dedication that has made the city more liveable. Our smart city proposal puts focus on making the city more children-and-elderly-friendly," said municipal commissioner Krishan Kumar.
"This has brought us laurels. The ranking will further boost our confidence," Kumar, also vice-chairman of the development authority, said.
In the study, Bhubaneswar was assessed along with other cities in the world - such as Singapore, London, San Francisco, Berlin, Dubai, Barcelona, Melbourne, Seoul, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and San Diego. Different cities got different ranks with Singapore topping the list in all the four categories.
Singapore ranked first in overall parameters, while London and New York ranked second and third respectively. Bhubaneswar finished in 19th place overall.
It is not the first time that Bhubaneswar has earned a place at the international level. In November 2016, the city became one of the finalists to compete for the top slot in World Smart City Expo held in Barcelona.
"We topped the smart city list in the country, which resulted in more and more foreign countries evincing interest in helping us develop Bhubaneswar," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.
Jena said they were trying to improve Bhubaneswar in every manner and would continue to do so with active participation of the citizens and a dynamic workforce.
