How is the digitalization of German cities progressing? Once a year, the digital association Bitkom not only checks the status of online appointment booking, fiber-optic internet supply, smart traffic management, the digitalization of schools, and many other points – but also creates a ranking.
In Germany, a major city is defined as one with more than 100,000 inhabitants. There are 83 such cities this year, one more than in 2024: Cottbus has been promoted to the premier league of municipalities. For its “Smart City Index,” the digital association collects, verifies, and evaluates a total of 13,529 data points. For the first time since the index was introduced, all cities provided information for the analysis, which also incorporates official statistics, other rankings, and information from federal ministries.
“Digital Twin”: This is What Makes Munich a Smart City
For the third time in a row, Munich leads the ranking: numerous car-sharing vehicles, a digital citizen participation platform, and the live streaming of council meetings secured first place for the Bavarian capital. “Munich,” says Bitkom CEO Bernhard Rohleder, “has already introduced a digital twin. Other cities are still working on it.” The digital replica of the city is the basis for analyses, simulations, and what-if scenarios. Measures can be tested on the twin before being implemented in real life. While Siemens offers such models for industry, Munich has implemented the concept for municipalities.
Hamburg and Stuttgart follow in second and third place. New entrants to the top 10 of the most digital cities are Düsseldorf (rank 6, previous year: 17), Leipzig (rank 9, previous year: 23), and Heidelberg (rank 10, previous year: 15). In contrast, Ulm (rank 11, previous year: 10), Freiburg (rank 13, previous year: 6), Dresden (rank 18, previous year: 5), and Lübeck (rank 19, previous year) have fallen back. Berlin, which likes to advertise its startup scene, only manages to reach rank 33.
This year’s shooting star was Hanover. The capital of Lower Saxony improved by 34 places to rank seven. “Belit Onay has been the mayor of the city since 2019,” says Rohleder, “and he has taken up the issue of digitalization and worked on it with great commitment.” In Hanover, you can not only apply for citizen’s benefit online, but there is also an exemplary platform called “Mitreden Hannover” (Have Your Say Hanover) that enables citizens to participate in discussions on municipal projects: “Such things are important to bring politics and administration closer to the people again. We also see a truly democracy-promoting effect in the platform,” says the Bitkom CEO.
Digital Germany: “Every fundamental problem has already been solved somewhere in the country”
On the topic of artificial intelligence, one city stands out whose name you wouldn’t necessarily associate with digital excellence: Gelsenkirchen, Germany’s poorest city, the major problem child from the Ruhr area. With “Urban-KI,” Gelsenkirchen has launched a KI initiative for municipalities. “Whether urban planning, mobility, environment, climate protection, energy, civil protection, digital inclusion,” explains Rohleder, “all of this is supported by AI.” Overall, the topic of AI did not play a major role in the Smart City Index. Although many cities use chatbots for dialogue, none are as broadly well-positioned as this Ruhr area city.
When asked how well German cities are positioned in terms of digitalization in an international comparison, Rohleder answered evasively: “We attempted to compare German cities with municipalities abroad five or six years ago. It didn’t work; it simply couldn’t be represented empirically.” You would certainly find cities like Singapore that are better than the best German cities. But it is clear that Germany doesn’t need to hide. Almost everything that is possible exists in German municipalities. But not in all: “However, we have already solved every fundamental problem somewhere in the country.” Sometimes there is a lack of decisiveness in the political leadership of the cities, often also a lack of money.
Therefore, Bitkom not only advocates for recognizing digital public services as a state task but also advises cities to rely less on expensive in-house developments and instead adopt what other municipalities have already successfully implemented. (Sources: Bitkom, own research)
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