Tokyo is the safest city in the world. This emerges from the Safe Cities Index 2019, an analysis by the British research institute The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). This puts Japan's capital in top spot for the third time in a row. Second and third place are Singapore and Osaka, as well as Asian metropolises. Only one German city has made it into the top 20: Frankfurt am Main.
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City trips - but safe !: New York, Frankfurt, TokyoDozens of criteria have been scrutinized to evaluate cities around the world. On the whole, it was about safety in the areas
- digital,
- Health,
- Infrastructure as well
- for personal safety .
Especially the last two points play a big role for city travelers. Infrastructure security also means how vulnerable a city is to terrorist attacks, according to the EIU report. The evaluated indicators include, among other things, the safety of means of transport and pedestrian friendliness. The quality of the transport was also evaluated.
The issue of personal security questions the extent to which urban people are at risk from crime, violence and natural disasters, the researchers say. In addition to police involvement on the ground, they also analyzed private security measures, political stability and crime on the street. In addition, methods for hazard monitoring were investigated.
These cities have done the best overall:
The safest cities 2019
| rank | city | Points |
| 1 | Tokyo | 92.0 |
| 2 | Singapore | 91.5 |
| 3 | Osaka | 90.9 |
| 4 | Amsterdam | 88.0 |
| 5 | Sydney | 87.9 |
| 6 | Toronto | 87.8 |
| 7 | Washington DC | 87.6 |
| 8th | Copenhagen | 87.4 |
| 8th | Seoul | 87.4 |
| 10 | Melbourne | 87.3 |
| 11 | Chicago | 86.7 |
| 12 | Stockholm | 86.5 |
| 13 | San Francisco | 85.9 |
| 14 | London | 85.7 |
| 15 | new York | 85.5 |
| 16 | Frankfurt | 85.4 |
| 17 | los Angeles | 85.2 |
| 18 | Wellington | 84.5 |
| 18 | Zurich | 84.5 |
| 20 | Hong Kong | 83.7 |
Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit
Looking only at the aspect of personal security, even more European cities will end up in the top 20: Copenhagen is the number two after Singapore in this regard. But also Stockholm (6th), Amsterdam (9), Zurich (13), Frankfurt (14), Brussels (17), Madrid (18) and Barcelona (19) are doing well.
Tokyo is at the top of the leaderboard, especially in the fields of digital and health. "We have done a lot of security and initiatives in recent years," says Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike of the EIU. It is simply essential that the city protects its citizens against natural disasters. One must consider, Koike, that Tokyo has a major earthquake risk.
Risk climate change
"We're also witnessing climate change around the world," says Koike. "Last year, we had heavy rainfall in Japan, with flooding causing landslides and people dying." Tokyo is surrounded by several rivers, which must be considered when planning infrastructure measures. To prevent flooding in Tokyo, for example, the city has built an underground reservoir.
The EIU is the research institute of the British Economist Group, a sister company of the British weekly The Economist. For more than 70 years, it has carried out market analyzes that say it is about the opportunities and risks in a changing world.
Participants in the analysis included a multinational team of cyber researchers, health, business and urban development experts, and politicians, such as Emmanuel Gregoire, deputy mayor of Paris.