DUBLIN is falling behind other European countries thanks to poor urban planning, inadequate transportation and access to education.

The latest IESE Cities in Motion Index ranks us 30th on the list of global smart cities, a fall of nine places on last year’s ranking.

Dublin falls behind other European cities due to poor urban planning

And we’re also distinctly average in European terms, sitting in 15th position behind superior performers such as London, Reykjavik and Amsterdam.

The table was compiled by academics at IESE Business School who analysed 165 cities across 80 countries using more than 80 indicators.

Dublin performed well in certain areas, ranking 16th worldwide for its strong economy and 17th for its technology development.

It also scored highly for its number of social media users, under of mobile phones per person, Wi-Fi hotspots and landline subscriptions.

London ranked in the top three

However, at the other end of the scale, the capital was ranked 100th globally for mobility and transportation.

This is due to the inefficient transport system and dissatisfaction caused by traffic congestion.

There was further bad news on the urban planning front, with Dublin’s performance earning it a ranking of 75th worldwide.

So how can we improve and which city is the best role model? New York took the top spot, followed by London and Paris, with the three cities consistently changing positions since the index was introduced five years ago.

Making up the top 10 were Tokyo, Reykjavik, Singapore, Seoul, Toronto, Hong Kong and Amsterdam.

Yet, even the cities at the top of the list still showed plenty of room for improvement.

While the top three locations scored highly in a range of areas, they all fared poorly on social cohesion, reflecting unequal treatment of certain sectors of society.

Paris also ranked in the top three but fared poorly on social cohesion

New York was deemed to be particularly bad in this area, ranking 109th, with Paris in 87th position and London in 68th.

Overall, just three cities – Amsterdam, Seoul and Melbourne, did moderately well in all areas.

Europe scored highest with 12 cities in the top 25, followed by North America with six.

African cities made up the bottom of the index, narrowly ahead of South America.