If you are an ardent traveler, you may be wondering what are the safest cities in the world for you to visit. But wonder no more. The Economist just released the list of the world’s safest cities.
The list was compiled using the Safest City Index. According to the Economist, the Safest City Index is a global, policy benchmarking tool developed to measure urban safety.
The index is divided into five main criteria which includes: Personal Security, Health Security, Infrastructural Security, Environmental Security, as well as Digital Security. Health security is more important right now due to the ravages of Coronavirus pandemic in the world.
But what are the safest cities in the world? Here are the leaders:
1. Copenhagen, Denmark
On a scale of 1 to 100 with 100 being super-safe, Copenhagen, Denmark scored 82.4 overall in order to emerge as the safest city in the world. It is worth noting that overall, Denmark is also considered the happiest country in the world hence no surprise that Copenhagen came out on top as far as safety is concerned. For example, on the Personal Safety aspect, Copenhagen was the leader as it scored 86.4 out of 100. It was followed by Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Stockholm and Brussels with 80.5, 80.3, 79.7 and 79.3 respectively in that order.
2. Toronto, Canada
Canada’s largest city and the financial hub, Toronto emerged second overall. The city of Toronto scored 82.2 in the Safest Cities Index 2021. The city especially did well when it comes to the Environmental Security aspect. The Canadian city was also among the top five cities when it comes to Infrastructural Security aspect where it was grouped together with its peers including Tokyo, Copenhagen, Singapore and Hong Kong.
3. Singapore
The Asian City-State emerged third as the safest city in the world with a score of 80.7. Singapore is not new in the list as it has ranked among the top ten safest cities in the world consistently in the last five years. It is worth noting that Singapore has a somehow balanced scorecard on at least 3 of the 5 criteria that were used to assess a city’s safety. For example, Singapore was number 2 on the Digital Security aspect, number 2 on Health Security, and number 2 on the Infrastructural Security aspect as well.
4. Sydney, Australia
With a score of 80.1, the city of Sydney emerged 4th in the list of the Safest Cities in the World 2021. Whereas the difference between the first two top cities was only a meagre two points, Singapore differentiated itself from its closest rival, Sydney, by a whopping 6 points difference. The city of Sydney did particularly well on the Digital Security aspect. It scored 83.2 out of 100 on this aspect with Singapore, Copenhagen and the two Californian cities: Los Angels and San Francisco following behind in that order. Their scores were 82.8, 82.2, 82.0 respectively. Both Los Angels, USA and San Francisco, USA were tied at 82.0 on the Digital Security aspect.
5. Tokyo, Japan
The host of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics emerged number 5 with a score of 80.0 out of 100. It is worth noting that Tokyo is also the most populous city making it in this list with an urban population of nearly 23 million people. The city of Tokyo also scored number 1 on the Health Safety aspect, edging out Singapore, Hong Kong, Melbourne and sister city, Osaka in that order.
6. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The Red Light District of the world, Amsterdam came in 6th as the Safest City in the World 2021. This is a little bit surprising as most people associate commercial sex workers with high cases of criminal activity, drug abuse and violence. Amsterdam is also the second European city to make it to the list of the top safest cities in the world after, of course, Copenhagen.
Amsterdam scored 79.3 out of 100 on the Safest Cities Index 2021.
7. Wellington, New Zealand
The city of Wellington which is the capital city of New Zealand came in at number 7. On the Safest Cities Index 2021, Wellington scored 79.0 points out of a possible 100 overall. When it comes to Environmental Security aspect, Wellington leads with a score of 91.7 out of 100. Other cities that did well in terms of Environmental Security includes: Toronto, Washington, DC, Bogota and Milan in that order.
8. Hong Kong, China
The city of Hong Kong was tied with the city of Melbourne, Australia. Both of these cities scored 78.6 out of 100 overall. However, Hong Kong was the leading city in the world when it comes to Infrastructural Security as it scored 93.4 out of 100 in this aspect. Hong Kong was followed by Singapore at 92.1, Copenhagen, Toronto and Tokyo at 89.0, 88.6 and 87.7 respectively in that order.
8. Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne tied at number 8 on the Safest Cites Index 2021. This Australian city, just like Hong Kong above, scored 78.6 out of 100 overall. Whereas Hong Kong came in 4th on the Health Security aspect, Melbourne closely followed behind at number 5 on the same aspect. However, Melbourne outperformed Hong Kong on the Digital Security aspect where the Australian city came in at number 8 while the Chinese city place in at number 21.
10. Stockholm, Sweden
Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden is the third European city to make it to the list of the safest cities in the world. Stockholm scored 78.0 out of 100 overall on the Safest Cities Index 2021. The city follows the other two European peers, Copenhagen and Amsterdam. The Swedish city concludes the list of the top ten safest cities in the world 2021. Of course at number 11, is also another European city: Barcelona at number 11 overall with a score of 77.8 out of 100. The Spanish city shares this position with New York City, USA.
