Brussels has dropped two places on this year’s Safe Cities Index, compiled by The Economist, to land in 26th place between Seoul and Milan.
The index is produced every two years, and being the work of The Economist, is a lot more complex than would first appear.
A city’s rating depends on a number of factors, including digital, health, infrastructure, environmental and personal security. Brussels comes 26th with an average score of 73.6.
The list is headed by Copenhagen on 82.4, followed by Toronto (82.2) and Singapore (80.7).
Sadly Brussels appears to be on the slide, whether by its own failings or the improvement of other cities. In 2019 it stood at 24th place; in 2017 at 19th.
In specific sectors, Brussels does better. For digital security it sits in 23rd place; for health security it drops down to 31st; 31st too for infrastructure security; fifth place for personal security; and a lowly 36th place for environmental security.
Perhaps most damaging to the Brussels regional government, is the score for mobility, for which great claims have been made by various ministers led by Elke Van den Brande (Groen) but also Pascal Smet (Vooruit). In that aspect, Brussels scores an unimpressive 36th place – just above the average of all cities reviewed.
