Image: Source: wikipedia.commons
By Raveena Grover
Australia’s most populous city, Sydney, has been ranked the safest city in the nation and the sixth safest city in the world.
According to The 2015 Safe Cities Index, produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Tokyo is the safest city on the globe. The Japanese city is also the most populated.
The Economist website states: “The Index focuses on 50 cities…based on factors such as regional representation and availability of data. Therefore, it should not be considered a comprehensive list of the world’s safest cities.”
The four categories focused on for ranking cities by the EUI were digital security, health security, infrastructure safety and personal safety.
Sydney ranked in the top 20 for each of the categories; however, it is one of the least affordable places to live.
Superintendent Mark Walton of the Sydney City Local Area Command said the announcement that Sydney is in the top ten safest cities in the world could be attributed to the effectiveness of law enforcement.
“We certainly welcome the rating which reflects the continued hard work our police officers do,” he said.
Crime rates in Sydney have decreased in the past 5 years, which is a major factor in contributing to the city’s ranking on the 2015 Safe Cities Index.
According to the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), the trends in recorded criminal incidences in Sydney for major offences have shown a mean of an 11.8% decrease from June 2009 to June 2014.
These statistics are excluding offences for which the trends have remained stable. The major offences for which trends increased over the 5 years are domestic violence assault, indecent assault and fraud.
The city ranked in at the 92nd percentile for being the most expensive city to reside in, coming ahead of Zurich, Paris and Singapore. (It also comes ahead of one other city but it is not listed which one).
BOCSAR were unavailable to comment on the matter.
