Toronto is officially the best city in the world, according to the Economist
Factors include safety, 'liveability', food security and cost of living
According to analysis carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit of 36 major cities, Canada's economic powerhouse finished top.
While it wasn't named first in any of the specific rankings, a strong performance overall placed Toronto top. It came eighth in the safety index and fourth in terms of liveability.
Tokyo is named the safest city in the world. Even though it is home to 30 million people and is one of the biggest cities in the world, the Japanese capital sees very little crime and violence.
With a traditionally well-ordered, hierarchical society, Japan has one of the lowest murder rates in the world, with the use of drugs particularly low. Another Japanese city, Osaka, was ranked third safest city in the world.
Toronto was only placed outside of the top ten in one category: cost of living. Unsurprisingly, London scored poorly in this too, coming around halfway down, alongside South Korea’s capital, Seoul.
Melbourne came top in the liveability ranking, and Hong Kong was one of five to score highest in Food Security.
1. Tokyo
This safe-haven of a city is famous for its teen fashion tribes, dressed in day-glo and Manga-inspired outfits, and colourful “matsuri” festivals. Stroll around one of the fish markets and sample the local sushi, or visit the world’s oldest temple, Senso-ji, all in the knowledge that your wallet is (almost definitely) safe.
One of just three city-states in the world, along with Monaco and Vatican City, Singapore boasts very low crime rates: in 2012 there were 80 days straight without a single robbery reported. This proud nation prints the entire national anthem on the back of its $1,000 notes, and is home to the first “Hug Me” Coca-Cola machine, which dispenses bottles of pop when hugged. Wow.
3. Osaka
The second Japanese city in the top ten safest list, Osaka enjoys a similar atmosphere of calm to its more famous older sister, Tokyo. It is home to Universal Studios Japan and an entire Manga shopping district, “Den Den Town”.
4. Stockholm
The safest European city is also one of the richest, among the top 10 regions in the continent by GDP per capita. It also hosts the annual Nobel Prize for literature, medicine, physics, chemistry and economics, but contrary to the city’s harmonious atmosphere, the Peace Prize is the only Nobel awarded elsewhere, in Norway’s Oslo.
5. Amsterdam
A famously liberal attitude towards drugs and the sex trade obviously hasn’t had a detrimental impact on Amsterdam’s safety: it’s in the top five safest cities in the world. Just watch you don’t fall into a canal after indulging in one too many “brownies”…
6. Sydney
Ironically where Britain once sent its criminals, people now leave in their droves to live in safe Sydney, famous for offering a healthy, outdoor lifestyle and home to a certain opera house. Perhaps all that sunshine has something to do with it?
7. Zurich
This city has a relatively small population, and has infamously low tax rates, which might go some way to explain its place in the top safest cities in the world. It’s also often named as the place offering the best quality of life. Lucky old Zurich.
8. Toronto
Even though it’s the best city on average across all the indexes, Toronto is eighth in the world when it comes to safety. Not a bad placing though, considering London is a further ten down the list at number 18.
9. Melbourne
The second Australian city in the top ten for safety, Melbourne is rated the highest in “liveability” in the whole world. In the same survey last year it scored perfect rating for healthcare, education and infrastructure.
10. New York
Perhaps one of the more surprising on the safety list is The Big Apple, which actually scores pretty badly in terms of “liveability”. Contrary to its violent reputation, at least in Brooklyn and the Bronx, violent crime has been dropping since 1990, and last year saw the lowest number of homicides since records began in 1963.
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