City Vision Score 2026: Bologna confirms its position as Italy’s smartest city
October 21, 2026
Bologna has been named Italy’s smartest city for the second year in a row, according to the City Vision Score. Strengthening this result, Casalecchio di Reno also makes the top three for the first time, giving the Bologna area two of Italy’s three highest-ranked municipalities.
Developed by Blum and Prokalos, the index assesses all 7,896 Italian municipalities on a scale of 10 to 100 points, based on 30 indicators grouped into six areas: governance, economy, environment, quality of life, mobility and citizen participation. The data comes from official public sources.
Bologna and Emilia-Romagna: an overview
Presented in Padua during the General Assembly of Smart Cities, the ranking awards Bologna 100 points, the maximum possible score, confirming its position at the top.
Casalecchio di Reno
Pordenone follows in second place and Casalecchio di Reno, a town just outside Bologna, ranks third, highlighting the Bologna area’s strong performance. The top 10 is otherwise dominated by municipalities in northeastern and northwestern Italy, with Florence the only exception, ranking eighth.
Looking at the regional results, Emilia-Romagna has 23 municipalities among the top 100, making it the second-ranked Italian region by number of entries. The province of Bologna alone accounts for 14 municipalities in the top 100, placing second nationally.
The ranking highlights the competitiveness and capacity for innovation of not only Bologna but also its wider metropolitan area, which continues to serve as a benchmark for the development of connected, sustainable and people-centred cities.
