Safest cities in the world revealed: Safe Cities Index 2019

Dynamic: Hong Kong dropped 11 places in the list to fall to 20th. Photo / Getty Images

Two Australian hubs have made the top 10 of a new global study on where the safest cities in the world are located.

Meanwhile New Zealand only has one entry in the top 20.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released its third set of rankings based on urban safety and resilience, assessing 60 cities from five continents on four factors: digital, infrastructure, health and personal security.

Coming out on top was Tokyo, with a score of 92 points out of a possible 100. Coming in a very close second was Singapore on 91.5 and another Japanese metropolis, Osaka, third, with 90.9.

While only one US city made the top 10 — Washington DC at number 7 — two Australian locations did well in the rankings with Sydney grabbing 5th spot and Melbourne sneaking in at number 10.

The report showed that what is deemed 'safe' when it comes to a city has changed, and this was reflected in the results.

"The research highlights how different types of safety are thoroughly intertwined," Naka Kondo told CNN, senior editor of The Economist Intelligence Unit and editor of the SCI2019 report.

"Our research points to a number of key elements, including joint planning by all relevant stakeholders, both governmental and non-governmental, to prepare for shocks; a new understanding of infrastructure that uses a city's natural assets as tools to enhance its ability to absorb shocks; and the importance of promoting social connectedness among citizens in creating communities that will work together in a crisis."

Since the last SCI report Wellington has fallen two spots on the rankings to 18th.

However, this would appear to be a result of cities such as Los Angeles leapfrogging the rankings.

If anything the city has become safer. Wellington has improved from an index of 83.18 in 2017 to 84.5 this year.

The biggest city to drop in rankings was Hong Kong, which dropped from 9th to 20th position following months of sometimes violent anti-government protests, which has also lead to a decline in visitor numbers.

"The situation in Hong Kong is still dynamic, so at this stage of course we cannot say exactly what the impact on the score will be," said Simon Baptist, global chief economist and managing director for Asia.

"If there are sustained attacks on infrastructure, an ongoing increase in political instability, civil unrest or if relations between the police force and the community cannot be repaired, then it is likely that Hong Kong's score would fall."

Two European cities made the top 10: Amsterdam, which rose from sixth to fourth place this year; and Copenhagen, which tied at eighth place with Seoul.

"Of the 14 European cities in the Index, only Istanbul and Moscow fall below the average score of 71.2 globally," Irene Mia, global editorial director of The Economist Intelligence Unit, told The Independent.

"Although European cities generally perform well in health security, they tend to struggle in the category of digital security and London is the only European city in the top 10 in this category."