The most recent Report on the Quality of Life in European Cities, published by the European Commission, has revealed that Copenhagen is considered the safest city in Europe, with 87 per cent of respondents claiming so.
With similar results, Oviedo in Spain and Ljubljana in Slovenia are considered the second and third safest cities in the zone, while in general, smaller cities are perceived as safer.
With one percentage point down from the top three safest cities in Europe, Bialystok (Poland), Groningen (Netherlands) and Zurich (Switzerland) are ranked as fourth, fifth and sixth safest cities, respectively, as 86 per cent of respondents ranked them high for being secure destinations.
In general, the survey revealed that the cities in southern Member States ranked lower in terms of safety, with 63 per cent of residents saying they feel safe, compared to 82 per cent of those in northern member States.
Rome and Naples in Italy, as well as Athens in Greece, are ranked the lowest not only among southern Member States but in total, with less than half of respondents considering Rome and Athens safe – 38 and 40 per cent, respectively. This can be a concerning finding, as these two cities are some of the most popular tourist destinations in the whole zone.
The list of top ten safest cities for 2023 is further concluded with another Danish city – Aalborg, 85 per cent of which residents consider themselves safe while walking at night. Safety indicators for this city are quite high, as 87 per cent of its inhabitants said that most people in their city can be trusted, ranking Aalborg highest on the list of cities where residents trust their co-inhabitants.
Braga in Portugal and Luxembourg are ranked ninth and tenth, with a share of 84 and 83 per cent of residents considering these cities safe, respectively.
While the safety perception is mainly the same regardless of the region in countries like Denmark, Austria, Slovakia, Finland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, that is not the case for the majority of countries.
For example, in France, the sense of safety among residents varies widely, with 43 per cent feeling secure walking at night in Marseille compared to 82 per cent in Bordeaux.
Similar discrepancies are observed across cities within Belgium (Liège 44 per cent, Antwerp 73 per cent), Bulgaria (Sofia 48 per cent, Burgas 66 per cent), Czechia (Ostrava 45 per cent, Prague 62 per cent), Greece (Athens 40 per cent, Heraklion 68 per cent), Italy (Rome 37 per cent, Verona 64 per cent), Romania (Bucharest 58 per cent, Cluj-Napoca 80 per cent), and Turkiye (Istanbul 44 per cent, Antalya 80 per cent).
