Safety and Security

Protection against real and perceived threats to the security of a city is important for social stability. Giving priority to management and efforts to eradicate several behaviours such as criminality, violence, substance abuse, infection, natural disasters, terrorism, cybercrime and personal security will instill confidence in leadership and allow for individuals to thrive. Specifics will change from city to city - for example, a city that has experienced a terror attack or is susceptible to natural disaster would have a higher level of security - but high-scoring cities will make security planning a priority.

Cities, like people, have many dimensions – facets or characteristics that look unique depending on scale, setting, or circumstance. A city, for example, could be generally very secure, safe and settled while an individual in the city could feel vulnerable, threatened and precarious. In many cases, the safety and security of a city coincides with what citizens are experiencing. An earthquake, tsunami or hurricane can threaten both city and citizen simultaneously. Leadership at a city scale is attentive to the dynamics from the citizen to the city and across both natural and human-directed actions. 

The Safety and Security consideration is comprised of a wide range of Indicators (data sources) including freedom of speech, mitigation of infectious disease, fire-emergency response, policing effectiveness, transportation fatalities and youth well-being among others. Effective leadership prioritizes stability that is sufficient in both preventing threats and responding in a timely way when they do emerge.

While citizens may often have to depend on each other to solve immediate problems caused by a storm or fire, they also look to governing oversight to coordinate, intervene and balance resources in ways that small groups of citizens cannot. Neighbours may help each other shovel snow or clean up after a flood but it is imperative that cities clear roads and streets or build storm-water systems adequate to period storms or rising water levels. Most citizens cannot provide for all of these things themselves and cities cannot simply depend on the goodwill of people alone. 

Criminality and violence that is left unchecked or that is inadequately treated in the courts and legal system can quickly turn communities from secure and stable to threatened and precarious. The prosecution of those who bypass the law is essential for the long-range viability of communities and the wider cities they are part of. Corruption – local or virtual – can deeply undermine the quality of life for citizens and render a city. By collecting data that contributes to a measurement of safety and security, CitiIQ recognizes that decision-makers and citizens need ways to keep track of how they are doing. This insight needs to be paired with other factors to reflect how safety and security affect other quality of life dynamics. 

The trust required for a collection of people to become a community can be affected by both real and perceived threats. City leadership that fosters real security by enabling the growth of trust among us will offset a wide range of problems and challenges in modern urban life.

1 The complete list of Indicators that support the Safety and Security consideration: Domestic and International Security, Freedom of Speech, Homelessness, Mitigation of Infectious Disease, Protection Against Natural Disaster, Protection Against Sexual Violence, Security from Homicide, Strength of Fire-related Emergency, Strength of Police-related Emergency, Transportation Fatalities, Youth Well-being