To better protect citizens, city managers have had to become more vigilant in terms of health and overall safety. Recently, there have been vicious attacks in Europe and the United States and other countries, and at present, for international students, the security of the destination country has become an important factor for all parents and international students.
Since 2015, British economists have published a global safe city data report every two years. On August 24, 2021, The Economist Group released the Safe Cities Index 2021, which this year surveyed and evaluated 60 major cities on five continents.
Safe Cities Index Rankings 2021
Topped the list of the safest cities in the world is the Danish capital Copenhagen, which scored 82.4 out of 100 points. Copenhagen has put a lot of effort into reducing energy consumption, investing in green energy and encouraging green mobility, so it is better at environmental safety than the top three cities in the previous year. The second place is Toronto, Canada, which is the only North American city to enter the top ten. The Economist Intelligence Unit notes that this is due not only to the numerous improvements Toronto has implemented over the past two years, but also to Toronto's "long-term success in keeping residents safe." Third place was Singapore. Fourth place Sydney, Australia. Fifth place Tokyo, Japan. Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Wellington in New Zealand are in sixth and seventh place, respectively. Melbourne, Australia, and Hong Kong, China, are jointly ranked eighth. Tenth place is Stockholm, Sweden.
The top ten include three Nordic cities, three Oceania cities, three Asian cities, and one North American city, and the ranking of the data shows that there is a greater sense of security in these cities, whether it is school or settlement.
Naka Kondo, senior editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said the coronavirus was the first global plague to hit humans since global urbanization and changed the whole concept of urban security. "As more jobs and businesses move online, cybersecurity is now becoming more important, and infrastructure security must be adapted to match the dramatic changes in the way people travel and residents use public transport," she said.
Detailed explanation of safe cities in various countries
Copenhagen
Copenhagen Mayor Lars Weiss thinks. In addition, Copenhagen is committed to a green transition, with the goal of becoming the world's first carbon-neutral capital by 2025. As a result, it is working to mitigate the effects of climate change, reduce carbon emissions, invest in green energy, and adapt cities to future climate change. Despite these successes, the mayor acknowledged the need to further reduce crime rates and improve the safety of cycling infrastructure in the future. The mayor shared his experience by stressing, ""
Singapore
Singapore has always been an image of efficiency and safety, a typical rule of law society, with extremely clear judgments on various criminal acts and complete laws and regulations. Despite its small size, Singapore has installed about 86,000 monitors, equivalent to 15.25 cameras per 1,000 people.
Sydney
Sydney ranks first in the world for digital security. Sydney is leading this effort through its Smart Cities Strategic Framework, enabling innovation in the city. Its function is mainly embodied in the placement of smart sensors on dumpsters, street lights and benches to collect information about the overall usage of these facilities, traffic flow and pedestrian activity. Similarly, smart lighting and CCTV networks can improve nighttime safety and the night economy.
Sydney, which ranks fourth in this year's overall list of the world's safest cities, has residents who believe they have been protected during the pandemic and have long felt a strong sense of personal security on the streets of Sydney. Chloe Scorgie, founder of Australian travel website Passport Down Under, said: ". "She first moved to Sydney in 2018." As a single woman travelling in Sydney, I never felt any danger to myself. ”
Tokyo
The Japanese capital ranks fifth in the overall index and first in the health safety index, which measures factors such as the universal health care system, response to the COVID-19 pandemic, life expectancy, mental health and COVID-19 mortality. Although there was a surge in cases during the Tokyo Olympics, the death rate has dropped sharply as vaccination rates have reached nearly 60 percent. In light of these positive news, Japan announced the gradual lifting of the state of emergency and the lifting of restrictions from the end of September 2021. Instead, plans encourage the use of their vaccine passports to enter medical facilities and attend large events, and even encourage businesses to offer discounts or coupons to vaccine passport holders.
Tokyo, on the other hand, ranked fifth in terms of infrastructure safety, which includes traffic safety, pedestrian friendliness and transportation networks. As a city connected by rail, Tokyo's infrastructure is aimed at encouraging walking and community participation, which in turn has led to a stronger participation of citizens in the construction of safe cities in the form of neighborhood crime prevention and watchmanship, as well as joint crime prevention.
China
Hong Kong tied for eighth place with Melbourne on a total score of 78.6 points on infrastructure security, 70.1 points for digital security, 70.4 points for personal safety, 84 points for health protection and 74.8 points for environmental safety. Among them, Hong Kong ranked first in the world with a high score of 93.4 in the infrastructure security index. It also ranked 3rd with 84 points for health safety and 27th for environmental safety with 74.8 points. Hong Kong, China, has a score of 70.1 in digital security and 70.4 points in personal safety, ranking only 21st in both aspects. Although Hong Kong's ranking has improved, the overall score has actually dropped from the last 83.7 points. The mainland city of Shanghai ranked 30th and Beijing ranked 36th.
Myanmar's Yangon ranks last among the 60 cities. The most unsafe are Karachi, Casablanca, Cairo and Kuwait. The rankings highlight that since global urbanization, the attacks on humans by the new coronavirus have also changed the definition of urban security.
Pratima Singh, director of the Safe Cities Index program at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said there was a strong correlation between high-income countries and index performance.
Source: International Urban Planning Magazine, The Economist Intelligence Unit official website, The Paper, the picture comes from the Internet, such as invasion and deletion.
Reporter: Liu Yu
Producer: Li Xuan
Editor-in-charge: Yang Dongni