Key Dimensions in Smart Cities' Rankings Towards Enhancing the Quality of Life for Smart Cities' Inhabitants

Motivation: Urbanization, demographic trends, globalization, and sustainable development contribute to the emergence of smart cities, which entail the intelligent integration of economy, governance, mobility, environment, daily life, and people. Smart city concept means a solution to support the growth of urban areas. One significant aspect discussed in the context of smart cities is the quality of life for their inhabitants. Smart cities are prevalent worldwide b there is no universally accepted index for accurate and reliable global rankings. Essential criteria for evaluation include livability, health, technology, mobility and transport, economy, environment, governance, and sustainability. Aim: The primary objective of this paper is to address the following questions: How do smart cities enhance the quality of life for their inhabitants? Which ranking has the best performance and seems to be the best in the context of improving the quality of life for smart cities' inhabitants? The aims of the article are as follows: to explore the main dimensions and indicators in smart cities indexes and to present the first three smartest cities based on 2022 rankings and also to prove that CIMI indicators best correspond to the elements of the qual ity of life of inhabitants. Results: There is currently no universally accepted index for accurately and reliably rank- ing smart cities worldwide, but taking into account key dimensions of smart cities' rank- ing it seems that the Cities in Motion Index from IESE Business School's has the greatest convergence with the quality of life for smart cities' inhabitants. This manuscript may prove valuable for researchers planning to assess the benefits and challenges associated with smart cities.