Every two years, cities across the world are ranked according to safety using Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Safe Cities Index. This consists of 76 indicators categorized in 5 pillars: personal, health, infrastructure, digital, and the newly added environmental security pillar.
Copenhagen, which previously ranked in 8th place in 2019, rose up the ranks to become the world’s safest city.
The 2021 Urban Safety Rankings
The index ranks 60 cities across 5 continents. Copenhagen scored 82.4 points out of 100 and Toronto, which is in 2nd place, scored 82.2. In the past 3 assessments of the index, Tokyo, Singapore and Osaka were always in the top 3 in that order.
The decision to add environmental security as a pillar for the city safety index largely came from lifestyle-shifting pandemic that was Covid-19. This was to the benefit of both Copenhagen and Toronto, which scored significantly better on this pillar than Tokyo, Singapore, and Osaka.
According to research, a city’s performance on different pillars correlates very closely with each other. This suggests the pillars are interconnected.
The top performers in each pillar are:
Digital security:
Sydney in 1st, followed by Singapore, and Copenhagen with Los Angeles and San Francisco taking joint 4th place.
Health security:
Tokyo comes in 1st, followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, Melbourne, and Osaka.
Infrastructure security:
Hong Kong ranks first, followed by Singapore, Copenhagen, Toronto, and Tokyo.
Personal security:
Copenhagen is 1st in this pillar, followed by Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Stockholm, and Brussels.
Environmental security:
Wellington takes 1st, followed by Toronto, Washington DC, Bogota, and Milan.
In addition to individual city performance, the safety index also shows patterns by region. The wealthy Asian cities had higher average scores on health and infrastructure security. American cities performed better on digital security and European cities scored better on personal security.
Copenhagen’s Success
Copenhagen’s 1st place position may also come from its low crime rate, which is the lowest it has been since over a decade ago. The city mayor, Lars Weiss, also pointed to the Copenhagen’s small wealth gap compared to other cities and greater social cohesion.
References:
https://www.smartcitiesworld.net/citizen-security/copenhagen-edges-toronto-to-become-worlds-safest-city
https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/article/toronto-ranked-2nd-safest-city-in-the-world-for-2021-report/
