Dhaka Improves, yet World's 7th Least Safe City

Dhaka has come 54th out of 60 major cities for its poor condition of digital and infrastructural condition on the global Safe Cities Index 2021.  

Dhaka improved slightly from the 56th position on the previous index published in 2019, only ahead of Yangon, Karachi, Caracas, Cairo, Lagos, and Casablanca.

The Economist published the report on Monday prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

It shows that Dhaka's overall score in the 2021 index is 48.9 out of 100.

The report marked Copenhagen as the safest city, with 82.4 points and Toronto as the second with close behind 82.2 points.

Prepared based on 76 indicators under five broad pillars — digital, health, infrastructure, personal and environmental security, the report put Dhaka in 47th position in terms of environmental protection. However, in terms of digital security, it lags behind at 56.

Although Dhaka performed relatively better in environmental security, in terms of healthcare, infrastructure and personal security, it ranks 52nd, 55th and 54th respectively.

Meanwhile, Karachi is behind Dhaka in South Asia. This city of Pakistan is one step ahead of Yangon. India’s Mumbai is ranked 50th while the country's capital city of New Delhi is two steps ahead.

Asia-Pacific cities dominated the top 10, with Singapore in 3rd, Sydney in 4th, Tokyo in 5th, Wellington in 7th, and Hong Kong and Melbourne jointly in the 8th position.

The Economist reports that income and transparency-accountability are key factors in building a good score. The cities with the highest scores on the Human Development Index have helped to top the list.