Safe cities: Seoul is 8th, Singapore is 2nd, and protest-hit Hong Kong?
- Seoul’s burgeoning reputation has seen it shoot up the rankings of the world’s safest cities
- Hong Kong, on the other hand, is on the slide – even if it’s not all bad news
Antte Alatalo had a surprise when he first walked around Seoul at night.
There wasn’t anything to fear.
The Finnish exchange student, 23, said the experience was in contrast to European cities, which were often unnerving after dark.
“I have never felt isolated walking alone in Seoul as there are always other people strolling around in almost any part of the city, even late at night,” he said, adding “I have never seen a fight breaking out since I came here.”
Among Alatalo and other international visitors, Seoul’s reputation as a safe city has been steadily gaining for years. The bi-yearly Safe Cities Index by The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked it the eighth safest city in the world in 2019, boosting its position from 24th in 2015 and 14th in 2017.
Four major areas considered by the index are: digital security, health security, infrastructure security and the security of the individual.