Nicosia has made its inaugural appearance in the IMD Smart City Index report, placing at 117th out of 141 smart cities.
The report, available at (https://imd.cld.bz/IMD-Smart-City-Index-Report-20231/28/), assigned Nicosia a CC grade for the “Structures” pillar and a C grade for “Technologies”.
According to a press release by the Nicosia Municipality, the research highlights several key findings. Road congestion emerged as a significant concern, garnering the highest priority rating among residents, with a percentage of 67.2%. Housing and corruption were also prominent issues, scoring 51.3% and 45.4% respectively, while safety ranked third and fourth at 45.4%.
Within the Health & Safety category, under the “Structures” pillar, the study revealed that 69.5% of citizens emphasized the importance of addressing sanitation needs in the poorest areas. Additionally, 47.1% deemed recycling services as crucial, and 48.3% emphasized the significance of public safety. In the Mobility sector, 13.0% of respondents expressed that traffic congestion was not a major problem, and 15.3% found the existing public transportation system satisfactory.
The implementation of the Smart City project in Nicosia is part of the larger “THALEIA 2021-2027” Cohesion Policy Programme, which receives co-funding from the European Union.
This initiative aims to propel Nicosia’s transformation into a more technologically advanced and sustainable city, addressing the identified areas for improvement.