// CITY_ASSESSMENT

How smart is Exeter?

Exeter, United Kingdom, scores 44.6% against the DC20 smart city framework in 2026 — ranked #135 of 213 cities assessed, with every finding traceable to a public source.

Smart score

44.6%

Rank

#135 / 213

Criteria present

33 / 82

Evidence coverage

50%

Exeter's smart city score by area

Data & Digital Foundation54%

6 present · 1 partial · 5 absent · 9 not assessed

Mobility39%

4 present · 3 partial · 7 absent · 2 not assessed

Environment & Resources57%

8 present · 1 partial · 6 absent · 2 not assessed

Governance & People73%

10 present · 2 partial · 3 absent · 5 not assessed

Economy & Method79%

5 present · 1 partial · 1 absent · 1 not assessed

Where Exeter is strong

  • Innovation Ecosystem
  • Digital Inclusion & Literacy
  • Smart Water & Waste
  • Digital Government / e-Services
  • Citizen Engagement & Participation

Where the gaps are

  • Interoperability & Open Standards
  • Integrated Multimodal Mobility (MaaS)
  • Resilience & Climate Adaptation
  • Data Governance, Privacy & Ethics
  • Real-time Public Transit Intelligence

Evidence highlights

Digital Twin · 3D city model / digital twin

Exeter is trialing city-wide digital twins.

https://www.ice.org.uk/news-and-insight/the-civil-engineer/august-2021/exeter-and-bristol-trial-city-wide-digital-twins

Real-time Public Transit Intelligence · Real-time arrivals / GTFS-RT

Stagecoach provides live bus times, and Travel Devon offers real-time bus information for Exeter.

https://www.stagecoachbus.com/

Smart Water & Waste · Smart water / leak detection

South West Water, the water provider for Exeter, is trialing innovative leak-detecting technology.

https://www.devonclimateemergency.org.uk/south-west-water-to-trial-innovative-leak-detecting-technology/

Smart Water & Waste · Smart waste collection

Exeter has introduced new smart bins to make waste collections more efficient.

https://news.exeter.gov.uk/new-exeter-smart-bins-to-make-collections-more-efficient/

About this assessment

Exeter was assessed against the 82 criteria of the DC20 smart city framework on 2026-07-01 by AI agents gathering evidence from official public sources. Each criterion is marked present, partial or absent, and every finding links to where it was found — see how smart cities are measured. Scores refresh continuously as cities publish new evidence.