Kuala Lumpur ranks below average in safe cities index

PETALING JAYA: Kuala Lumpur has been ranked below average for its level of safety, when it was placed 35th out of 60 cities in the Safe Cities Index 2019.

The Malaysian capital had scored 66.3 points overall in the report, a drop from the 73.11 points it had scored in the 2017 index, which ranked it the 31st safest city.

The report was recently released by The Economist Intelligence Unit, and was based on indicators such as digital, health, infrastructure and personal security.

Kuala Lumpur had scored above average for personal safety, which measured factors such as prevalence of petty crime, violent crime, organised crime, level of corruption and terrorist attacks.

It hit below the average mark for the other three indicators, which looked at factors such as air quality, water quality, road traffic safety, transport facilities and local malware threats.

The city, however, did better against its Asean neighbours such as Manila (43rd), Bangkok (47th) and Jakarta (53rd), with the exception of Singapore, which was ranked 2nd in the index.

Topping the list was Tokyo with 92 points, with cities like Osaka, Amsterdam, Sydney and Seoul listed in the top 10 as well.

The 2019 index includes new indicators which are related to resilience, measuring a city's preparedness and responsiveness to potential shocks, such as natural disasters or events caused by climate change.

It noted that Kuala Lumpur only "partially" took disaster risk into account in its national development plans and urban planning.

"Only under half of the cities listed - all from high-income countries with the exception of Beijing and Shanghai - take disaster risk into account in their own city-level planning," the report said.

The report also noted that richer urban areas tend to be safer, adding that cities with lower incomes need to focus on enhancing security.

"Integrating disaster risk into urban planning need not cost the earth - sometimes it simply means not developing in a way that undermines natural protections against various dangers," it said.

The report also highlighted that improving safety is a joint effort that requires the engagement of citizens, businesses and civil society organisations.

Transparent governance practices, it added, was also an important element to enhance safety in a city.