We all like to think that we live in a safe city. Unfortunately, reality is sometimes different to perception, and not all cities are as safe as they look. With that in mind, the Economist Intelligence Unit has helpfully pulled together a list of the safest cities in the world.
The rankings of city safety are based on urban safety and resilience levels, and digital, infrastructure, health and personal security measures were all evaluated. The study looked at 60 cities across five continents, and the results aren’t massively surprising.
Countries were given a safety score out of 100, and the study found that European cities were generally ranked quite safe and all had scores above 71.7, except Istanbul, Turkey which clocked in at 66.1/100, and Moscow, Russia at 65.8/100. Although the report doesn’t indicate that the wealth of a city determines its level of safety, it did discover that developing countries had lower levels of safety.
The top 10 safest cities in order were:
- Tokyo, Japan – 92/100
- Singapore 91.5/100
- Osaka, Japan 90.9/100
- Amsterdam, The Netherlands 88/100
- Sydney, Australia – 87.9/100
- Toronto, Canada – 87.8/100
- Washington DC, USA – 87.6/100
- Copenhagen, Denmark – 87.4/100
- Seoul, South Korea – 87.4/100
- Melbourne, Australia – 87.3/100
Notably, holiday destinations favoured by Australians, such as Bangkok in Thailand and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, received safety scores well below the average, at 57.6/100.
Cities were also graded on the individual assessment pillars of digital security, health security, infrastructure security and personal security. The cities that won those titles were:
- Digital Security: Tokyo, japan
- Health Security: Osaka, japan
- Infrastructure Security: Singapore
- Personal Security: Singapore
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