Safety is a primary concern for all of us when travelling, especially when we are doing so alone, since the chances of potential dangers increase when you are on a solo adventure. Secondly, there is no point travelling when you know that you will be unable to overcome any disasters on the way.
So there is a growing global interest in knowing which the safest cities in the world are, as ranked by The Economist’s Safe Cities Index. The Economist analysed 50 cities, selected for different factors such as size and availability of data. The cities were ranked on more than 40 metrics spread over four categories: digital security, health security, infrastructure safety and personal safety.
Wealthier cities included Tokyo and Singapore. Other top positions were secured by cities in Australia, Europe, US and Canada. These cities are not only safe, but also great attractions for tourists for a number of reasons, such as lovely places to visit, eat and shop.
The Economist’s 5 safest cities in the world are:
Tokyo, Japan
Singapore
Osaka, Japan
Stockholm, Sweden
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
The most safe city in America was New York, which was ranked at number 10. San Francisco stood at 12, Chicago at 16, Los Angeles at 17, and Washington D.C at 19. No other US cities were included in the rankings.
Cities which gained lower positions include:
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Johannesburg, South Africa
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam
Tehran, Iran
Jakarta, Indonesia
There were several reasons why these countries came near the bottom. For example, Ho Chi Minh City does not have a good ‘’infrastructure safety’’ which means they do not have safe roads or traffic systems and a high number of accidents have happened as a result. Tehran, which came second to last in the ‘’health security’’ section does not have good quality hospitals and a lower than average life expectancy.
The reported included an important point that, although wealth and economic development are closely associated with a city’s safety, it cannot guarantee it. Researchers also noted that, “being statistically safe is not the same as feeling safe.”
There are many other factors which can make a city safe or unsafe, but it it wise to start by considering these important findings first, before planning to visit any of the cities in the Index. However, one can , of course, consider visiting other cities within the same country as those ranked poorly, provided one has researched them thoroughly before booking tickets.