Copenhagen overtakes Tokyo to be ranked world’s safest city
- Copenhagen ranked as the safest city in the world, according to The Economist
- The biennial report had previously ranked Tokyo as the safest in 2019
- Each city is analysed looking at five different categories for safety and ranked
- For 2021, The Economist added a category looking at Environmental Security
Copenhagen has overtaken Tokyo to be named as the safest city anywhere in the world in a new report – just pipping Toronto to the crown.
The research, which is published by The Economist every two years, previously ranked the Danish capital eighth overall, with Tokyo holding the top spot.
However, following the last two year period, in which the Covid-19 pandemic has gripped the world, Copenhagen has claimed this year’s crown as the overall safest city in the world.
The study also ranked London as the joint 15th safest city in the world, tied with San Francisco.
Copenhagen (pictured) has overtaken Tokyo to be named as the safest city anywhere in the world in a new report
The research, which is published by The Economist every two years, previously ranked the Danish capital eighth overall, with Tokyo holding the top spot. Pictured: Toronto which was ranked second in the 2021 report
The report ranked the safety ratings of cities around the world based on five distinct categories: Digital Security, Health Security, Infrastructure Security, Personal Security and the newly incorporated Environmental Security.
Copenhagen outranked former leaders Tokyo in four out the five categories, with the Japanese capital only ranking higher on health security.
The Danish capital received an overall safety score of 82.4 and was closely followed by Toronto which was scored 82.2.
Despite this, the Danish capital only led the world one of the five categories – Personal Security.
When asked in the report about what makes Copenhagen such a safe city, lord mayor Lars Weiss said: ‘One key factor that makes Copenhagen such a safe city is its low crime rate, currently at its lowest level in more than a decade. We focus greatly on early intervention with preventive initiatives.
The report ranked the safety ratings of cities around the world based on five distinct categories: Digital Security, Health Security, Infrastructure Security, Personal Security and the newly incorporated Environmental Security. Pictured: Singapore, which was named third safest city
Sydney (pictured), which ranked fourth overall, led the world when it came to Digital Security in the report
‘Copenhagen is also characterised by great social cohesion and a relatively narrow wealth gap. It is a mixed city where both the cleaning assistant and the CEO meet each other at the local supermarket and have their kids in the same school.’
Despite this, the lord mayor did concede that the city still has a problem dealing with ‘repeat youth offenders’.
Commenting on ranking Copenhagen as their safest city, the Economist wrote: ‘Toronto and Copenhagen do noticeably better in the new environmental security pillar than do any of the top-three cities from earlier years.
‘Copenhagen is definitely a worthy overall leader and Toronto a well-deserving runner-up, but as much because of long-term success in making residents secure as from any particular improvements in the last two years.’