Once on of Asia’s, nay, the world’s safest cities is now considered less so. Hong Kong has plummetted off the list of world’s safest cities as tension between China continues to grow.
Hong Kong was ranked 20th in the new ‘World’s Safest Cities’ list compiled by The Economist Intelligence Unit, a drastic drop compared to 2017 when it was ranked number nine.
The city’s new security level was determined after an examination of factors such as health, digital, infrastructure and personal security. Each of which was likely impacted by anti-government protests in the last few months, as well as the grounding of all aircraft at Hong Kong International Airport.
The Economist’s Senior Editor, Naka Kondo, said the while wealth is one of the more important factors in determining a city’s safety, governance and transparency “correlate as closely”.
“The research also highlights how different types of safety are thoroughly intertwined — that it is rare to find a city with very good results in one safety pillar and lagging in others.”
Naka Kondo, The Economist Intelligent Unit Senior Editor
So while Hong Kong took a small dip on the list, Australia’s Sydney and Melbourne made the top 10 at five and 10 (respectively), while Tokyo held the lead as the ‘World’s Safest City’.
Making the list of the first time this year was Washington D.C. at number seven, while Singapore came in second followed by Osaka.
Check out the full list below:
1. Tokyo, Japan
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2. Singapore
3. Osaka, Japan
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4. Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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5. Sydney, Australia
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6. Toronto, Canada
7. Washington DC, US
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8. Copenhagen, Denmark
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9. Seoul, South Korea
10. Melbourne, Australia
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