Tokyo is ranked as the safest city on the planet, according to the Safe Cities Index of 2015. Published by the Economist magazine, the annual report looks into a number of local criteria, including the personal safety of people who live and work in urban environments around the globe. According to their findings, North America is the continent which has the greatest proportion of its population living in cities, but Asian cities dominate the first few places, when these places are ranked by public safety. However, there are Canadian and Australian cities which make the top ten, too.
Brighter Visas says despite having to deal with regular earthquakes and being home to the globe’s largest urban population – some 38 million, according to UN data – Tokyo tops the list of safest places to live. All would-be migrants need to consider the work and educational possibilities of a city, but safety is another important factor, too. According to the Economist's study, petty crime affects relatively few residents in the Japanese capital. Although violent crime does occur, it to impacts on a small minority of the city's inhabitants. When the Tokyo authorities announced its eight goals for transforming the city prior to the 2020 Olympic Games, it surprised few people that safety was set at number one on their list of priorities.
The next city on the list is Singapore, but Tokyo leads it by three clear points on the index, the widest gap for any two urban centres in the report which also rates cities on things like digital security and liveability. Singapore rates highly because violent crime is a rare occurrence in the city. However, the city does have something of a problem with so-called low-level street crime, like bag snatching. Another Japanese city, Osaka, takes the third spot. The city is the second largest in Japan and is one of the most populous in the world. It is one of the major economic hubs in east Asia and a popular place for migrants, due to the availability of work opportunities for qualified and technical professionals.
The Intelligence Unit of the Economist rank two European cities in positions four and five. These are Stockholm and Amsterdam, respectively. Although reported crime has been on the increase in Stockholm in the last few years, problems of corruption and bribery are extremely low in Sweden generally. Due to its good road infrastructure and well-organised crossing points, Amsterdam rates highly in the reports. However, the city does less well in terms of personal safety, although it still remains in the world's top ten, positioned at number nine.
Sydney is rated in sixth place. The business hub of Australia, Sydney is considered to be a safe city to live and work in. The city's authorities have a pro-active approach to many public safety and health issues, which includes measures to lessen the impact of smoking in public places, for instance. Likewise, road safety is a major focus for the municipal authorities. In terms of crime, Sydney is able to boast relatively low levels on a global scale, but the city also has a great deal of attention paid to crime prevention measures, something that helps it to rank so highly.
The city of Zurich is rated by the Economist's report in seventh place, with the Canadian city of Toronto in eighth. The highest ranked of all Canadian cities, Toronto has an enviable reputation for low crime rates, as do many other urban centres in the country. Both the homicide and robbery rates are very low. However, the city faced a growing problem of youth gangs about ten years ago and successfully dealt with it through a public programme of community-based education and more active policing. The next Canadian city to appear on the index is Montreal, which is ranked in fourteenth place.
Ninth in the list of ten safest cities is another Australian urban centre. Melbourne is rated with one of the safest infrastructures of any city in the world, rated only behind Zurich, but just ahead of Sydney. Like Sydney, Melbourne has a number of community services in place which are specifically designed to make it a safe place to settle. The authorities have installed an number of 'Safe City' cameras in particular areas and has been running a four year strategy since 2014 to improve the safety of all the city's communities.
Potential immigrants to the United States will be interested to note that the city of New York is placed in tenth position. This means that it outranks other safe American cities, such as San Francisco (twelfth), Chicago (sixteenth), Los Angeles (seventeenth) and Washington DC (nineteenth).
Canada
Living in Canada Guide
Canada Forum
Contribute
Best Places to Live in Canada
245 Expats Talk about Healthcare & Health Insurance in Canada
Pros & Cons of Living in Canada
10 Tips for Living in Canada