Germany's Etteln jumps to the top of world's smartest cities

The village of Etteln in East Westphalia was named the world's best “Smart City” in 2024. It beat Tokyo and Hong Kong. The community stands out with its innovative village app, a digital twin, and a free electric car service - popular among older residents. Locals volunteered to lay fiber optic cables themselves. That enabled modern agriculture and smart security solutions. Etteln generates 34 times more green energy than it consumes and hosts its digital platform directly inside a wind turbine. The village’s success is rooted in strong community spirit, practical thinking, and a tech-savvy mayor who turned digital transformation into a community project.
This video summary was created by AI from the original DW script. It was edited by a journalist before publication.