New research for expats has identified three of the world’s most dangerous cities as Ho Chi Minh City, Tehran and Jakarta.
The study places these danger zones at the bottom of 50 world cities scrutinised for urban safety by The Economist Intelligence Unit.
Tokyo was reckoned the safest city in the world, ahead of Singapore and Osaka.
The research looked at personal security, safety in buildings and on the roads, online security and health risks.
Each city’s ranking was determined by the score in each category.
Tokyo ranked highest for online security, but scored low on health.
New York was the only American city to make the top 10, while London only made 18th place, Washington DC was 19th.
Clean air and water
The cleanest air was found in Stockholm, Sweden, and the best quality water in Amsterdam.
“The concept is about updating what we really mean by safety,” said report editor James Chambers.
“Safety is about our on and offline wellbeing nowadays as technology and real life converge. I hope the table helps city leaders and the people that live in these cities understand what a complicated but interlinked environment they are in.”
The report singled out New York for bringing down crime and making the city one of the safest in the world.
In 1990, says the study, the population was 7.3 million and 2,262 people were murdered.
By 2013, the population increased to 8.4 million, but the number of killings reduced to 335.
The report also uncovered a link between wealth and security – but wealth does not guarantee safety.
Most of the top 25 cities are in developed and comparatively wealthy countries, but some developing countries with a high level of wealth still scored poorly – like Abu Dhabi and Kuwait City.
“The top three cities are in Asia, as are the bottom three,” said Chambers.
Safe Cities Ranked:
- Tokyo
- Singapore
- Osaka
- Stockholm
- Amsterdam
- Sydney
- Zurich
- Toronto
- Melbourne
- New York
- Hong Kong
- San Francisco
- Taipei
- Montreal
- Barcelona
- Chicago
- Los Angeles
- London
- Washington DC
- Frankfurt
- Madrid
- Brussels
- Paris
- Seoul
- Abu Dhabi
