These Are the Smartest Cities in Latin America, According to a New Index

Santiago de Chile is the the smartest city in Latin America, according to the latest edition of the IESE Cities in Motion Index (ICIM) 2024.

The IESE Cities in Motion Index is a study published annually by the business school of the University of Navarra. Analyzing 183 cities worldwide, 27 of them in Latin America, it seeks to evaluate the development of the world's cities and the current and future quality of life in each of them.

To do this, researchers analyze a diverse set of variables, including governance, urban planning, technology, environment, international projection, social cohesion, human capital, mobility and transportation, and economy.

Besides the overall ranking, the index puts the selected cities into five categories: high performance, relatively high, medium, low, and very low.

None of the 27 Latin American cities studied this year, which include urban centers from Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Bolivia, Guatemala, Venezuela, El Salvador, and Uruguay, were included in the high or relatively high performance groups.

Santiago de Chile, with a population of 5.6 million according to the 2017 census, was ranked at 91st,with a medium performance, making it the only Latin American city in this category.

It was followed by Buenos Aires, Argentina (115th), Montevideo, Uruguay (119th), and Mexico City (120th), all of which were classified as low-performance cities.

Panama City, in the 127th position, was the most intelligent city in Central America and the fifth in Latin America, also classified as a low-performance city.

Panama was followed by São Paulo, Brazil (128th), Bogotá, Colombia (131st), Río de Janeiro, Brazil (134th), Medellín, Colombia (137th), and Rosario, Argentina (139th).

According to the study, only one of the Latin American cities studied had a very low performance last year. It was Caracas, Venezuelan capital, ranking 182nd out of 183, just ahead of Lagos, Nigeria.

Ranking of the Smart Cities in Latin America

The following list includes the 27 Latin American cities studied in the IESE Cities in Motion Index (ICIM) 2024, out of a total of 183 cities worldwide.

1. Santiago, Chile (position 91, medium performance)
2. Buenos Aires, Argentina (position 115, low performance)
3. Montevideo, Uruguay (position 119, low performance)
4. Ciudad de Mexico (position 120, low performance)
5. Ciudad de Panamá (position 127, low performance)
6. São Paulo, Brazil (position 128, low performance)
7. Bogotá, Colombia (position 131, low performance)
8. Río de Janeiro, Brasil (position 134, low performance)
9. Medellín, Colombia (position 137, low performance)
10. Rosario, Argentina (position 139, low performance)
11. Lima, Peru (position 144, low performance)
12. Ciudad de Córdoba, Argentina (position 147, low performance)
13. Curitiba, Brazil (position 148, low performance)
14. Cali, Colombia (position 151, low performance)
15. Brasilia - Brazil (position 156, low performance)
16. Quito - Ecuador (position 157, low performance)
17. San José - Costa Rica (position 160, low performance)
18. Belo Horizonte, Brasil (position 161, low performance)
19. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana (position 163, low performance)
20. Salvador, Brazil (position 164, low performance)
21. San Salvador, El Salvador (position 165, low performance)
22. Asuncion, Paraguay (position 166, low performance)
23. Guayaquil, Ecuador (position 169, low performance)
24. La Paz, Bolivia (position 170, low performance)
25. Santa Cruz, Bolivia (position 172, low performance)
26. Guatemala (position 176, low performance)
27. Caracas, Venezuela (position 182, very low performance)