(January 23, 2019 – New York City, NY, USA) – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) has released a comprehensive ranking of sustainability in cities and regions in a dozen nations that have been identified as Intelligent Communities. Sustainability is one of the six key factors defining Intelligent Communities in the ICF Method.

Sustainability is considered a success factor because it offers multiple benefits to the economic, social and cultural life of communities. Quality of life in a community is tied to the environment within the community, from air quality to water pollution. Communities must take action toward sustainability goals to improve their quality of life and protect themselves from harm – all while contributing to the health of the world.

Sustainability projects also engage the community and generate action. When communities make sustainability a goal, they energize community groups, neighborhoods and community leaders with the promise of making a difference. The work of these groups meets sustainability goals – but just as important, it strengthens the community’s identity and creates civic pride that powers more positive change.

Sustainability is also a growth industry. As the world rises to the challenges of climate change, new technologies, applications and entire industries are taking shape, and these represent employment growth opportunities available to almost every community. Click here to read more about Sustainability.

“Our Sustainability metrics combine standard measures of air quality, water use and waste handling,” said ICF co-founder and analyst Robert Bell, “with evaluation of how communities build engagement through sustainability practices and the degree to which local government gives serious support to sustainability in economic and land use planning.”

The Top 30 Intelligent Communities Ranked by Sustainability:

1. Taoyuan, Taiwan
2. Montréal, Quebec, Canada
3. Espoo, Finland
4. Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
5. Westerville, Ohio, USA
6. Hudson, Ohio, USA
7. Toronto, Ontario, Canada
8. Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
9. Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
10. Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
11. Wellington, New Zealand
12. Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada
13. Markham, Ontario, Canada
14. Rochester, New York, USA
15. Chiayi City, Taiwan
16. Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
17. Olds, Alberta, Canada
18. Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
19. Chicago, Illinois, USA
20. Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
21. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
22. Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
23. St. Albert, Alberta, Canada
24. Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
25. Sarnia-Lambton County, Ontario, Canada
26. Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
27. Tallinn, Estonia
28. Tainan City, Taiwan
29. Parkland County, Alberta, Canada
30. Stratford, Ontario, Canada

About the ICF Rankings
The list ranks Intelligent Communities in ICF’s global data set using data on communities submitted from January 2015 through October 2019. This data is carefully weighted to balance the self-reported and third-party data of the Smart21 evaluation and the data from later stages of evaluation that is subject to onsite validation.

The list is the latest publication in ICF’s By The Numbers series. It provides a useful guide to the relative strengths of communities in ICF’s network, and an inspiration for greater progress in coming years. Future By the Numbers rankings of Intelligent Communities will be released by ICF in the coming months. Communities wishing to submit data for consideration can contact ICF Director of Operations Matthew Owen at [email protected].

About Intelligent Community Forum (ICF)
The Intelligent Community Forum is a global network with a think tank at its center. It connects hundreds of cities and regions on five continents for collaboration on economic development and for exchange of expertise and information that drives progress. Through this network, ICF researches how Intelligent Communities use information and communications technology to build inclusive prosperity, solve social problems and enrich their quality of life in our connected century. ICF is headquartered in New York City, is a worldwide organization that is renowned for its efforts recognizing Intelligent Community excellence through its annual awards programs, workshops, conferences and other support. Today there are nearly 170 Intelligent Communities around the world, and growing annually, with Intelligent Community representatives on every continent. The Intelligent Community Forum Foundation (ICFF) is the association of these Intelligent Communities, aimed at working together to share information and develop more Intelligent Communities throughout the world. As ICF’s principles are sought after around the world, there is an opportunity for each country to focus its ICF-related efforts within their region. For more information, visit https://www.intelligentcommunity.org.

Contact:
Matthew Owen
Director of Operations
Intelligent Community Forum
Tel. +1 646-291-6166 (x105)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @Newcommunities

Victoria Krisman
Communications Manager
Intelligent Community Forum
Email: [email protected]