Abu Dhabi 'safest city in Middle East'

Abu Dhabi is the safest city in the Middle East and one of the 25 most secure places on the planet, a new report found.

The latest Economist Intelligence Unit’s Safe Cities Index 2015 - which takes into account digital security, health security, infrastructure safety and personal safety - ranked the UAE capital ahead of Milan, Rome, Shanghai and Moscow, among other 50 cities.

Abu Dhabi took the 25^th position in the overall list. It is the only Middle Eastern city who made it into the top half of the index, beating Doha, at number 29 and Riyadh at number 46.

The UAE capital scored strongly in digital security and infrastructure safety, making it into the top 10 in these categories.

Overall, cities in developed markets dominated the top half of the index, while the bottom half is mostly occupied by cities in the developing markets.

Tokyo,  the most populous city in the world with more than 13 million residents as of 2014, took the first spot, followed by Singapore, Osaka, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Sydney, Zurich, Toronto, Melbourne and New York.

In the bottom of the list are Istanbul (41^st place), Delhi (42^nd), Moscow (43^rd), Mumbai (44^th), Mexico City (45^th), Riyadh (46^th) Johannesburg (47^th), Ho Chi Minh City (48^th), Tehran (49^th) and Jakarta (50^th).

In ranking the countries, the researchers also looked at each city’s frequency of vehicular accidents, policy measures and levels of spending, among other indicators.  In-depth interviews with experts in the field were also taken into account.

However, the index focused only on 50 cities, based on regional representation and availability of data, so it doesn’t mean a city appearing in the bottom of the list is the world’s most dangerous city to live in.