In This Post
– History of Lahore’s World Crime Index Rankings
– Creation of Punjab Safe Cities Authority
– The PPIC3 Centre Programme
– Lahore Safe City Project
Update (Jan 9, 2023): Lahore Grabs 286th Position on the World Crime Index
Lahore has once again been dubbed one of the safest cities to live in Pakistan.
According to the latest statistics released by Numbeo, the world’s largest crowd-sourced crime and safety ranking portal, the City of Gardens has a lower crime rate compared to prominent metropolises such as Paris, New York City, London, and Berlin. In fact, it ranked 286th on the World Crime Index for January 2023, with a crime index of 36.4 and a safety index of 63.6.
Meanwhile, Islamabad continues to be the safest city in Pakistan as it landed at 326th position on the list with a crime index of 31.2 and a safety index of 68.8. Moreover, Karachi ranked 126th with a crime index of 54.5 and a safety index of 45.5, while Rawalpindi occupied 164th position with a crime index of 49.9 and a safety index of 50.1.
On a side note, here are the top ten safest cities in the world, according to Numbeo.
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Doha, Qatar
- Taipei, Taiwan
- Ajman, United Arab Emirates
- Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
- Quebec City, Canada
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- San Sebastian, Spain
- Bern, Switzerland
- Eskisehir, Turkey
Lahore’s World Crime Index ranking has improved significantly in the past few months. Becoming one of the safest cities in Pakistan, Lahore beat major metropolises around the world on the World Crime Index 2019 mid-year.
According to the statistics released by the renowned crime and safety ranking portal, Numbeo, the crime index in Lahore has dropped to 38.43 from 46.90. Overall, the City of Gardens ranked 201st on the World Crime Index, which is a praiseworthy improvement from its previous ranking of 174th just a few months ago.
As per the latest report, Lahore is a safer place to live than big cities such as London, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Birmingham, Manchester, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Istanbul and Rome, among several others.
The city has ranked low on metrics such as ‘level of crime,’ ‘crime increasing in the past 3 years,’ ‘worries home broken and things stolen,’ ‘worries things from car stolen’ and ‘worries attacked.’ On the other hand, it ranked very low on the metric ‘worries being subject to a physical attack because of your skin colour, ethnic origin or religion.’
Lahore’s current safety index is 61.57, as per the findings on Numbeo.
The city of Caracas in Venezuela ranked no. 1 on the World Crime Index with a crime index of 85.26. Meanwhile, the tourist-friendly Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates was declared the safest city in the world with a crime index of 10.6.
The History of Lahore’s World Crime Index Rankings
Here’s an overview of how Lahore has performed on the Numbeo Crime Index over the past years.
2014: Lahore was in the 74th spot on the index. In mid-2014, it dropped four points to 70th.
2015: Lahore improved to 89th. In mid-2015, the city was graded 96th on the index.
2016: At the start of the year, Lahore ranked 86th on World Crime Index. By mid-2016, it jumped five points to the 81st position.
2017: The bustling metropolis ranked 119th on the index. In mid-2017, Lahore ranked at the 114th spot.
2018: Lahore stood at 138th position. In mid-2018, Lahore was graded 173rd.
2019: Lahore’s ranking on the index improved to 174th position. In mid-2019, it ranked 201st.
2020: The city ranked 230th on the World Crime Index. In mid-2020, it landed at 232nd position.
2021: Lahore’s ranking improved to 252 in the first half of the year. In mid-2021, it ranked 263rd.
2022: At the beginning of the year, Lahore ranked 282nd on the index. However, in mid-2022, its rating improved to 312.
Steps Taken By Authorities to Improve Safety in Lahore
So, how did Lahore manage to become one of the safest cities in Pakistan?
Over the past couple of years, authorities have taken quite a few measures to reduce the crime rate in Lahore and make it a safe and secure city that offers a quality lifestyle to its residents.
Let’s take a look at some of the steps that led to an improved World Crime Index ranking of Lahore.
The Creation of the Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA)
In 2015, the government established Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) under the Punjab Safe Cities Ordinance 2015. The authority was set up to address prevalent security concerns through the use of technology and improve the quality of life and public safety in the city.
The main functions of the self-governing body included developing and maintaining an integrated command, control and communication system along with equipping the law enforcement agencies with state-of-the-art technology to improve their response time and aid crime prevention.
The PPIC3 Centre Programme
Punjab-wide Police Integrated Command, Control and Communication (PPIC3) Centre Programme was developed by the PSCA for Punjab Police in Lahore. It has been functional since October 2016.
The PPIC3 was established with the aim to harness modern technology and use effective communication systems to enhance the performance of law enforcement agencies. To put it simply, the centre gathers, analyzes and circulates data between executives of traffic management, government offices and intelligence agencies among other private and public authorities.
Lahore Safe City Project
The Lahore Safe City project, which was launched in 2016 and spurred the creation of PSCA and PPIC3, is part of a wider initiative to reduce the crime rate and improve traffic management in the City of Gardens.
The project aims to reduce traffic violations, achieve public safety and improve incident tracking and response while practising transparency and automation in police operations. It utilizes city-wide infrastructure, surveillance systems and the new integrated communications, command and control centre to make Lahore one of the most peaceful and safest cities in Pakistan.
Furthermore, the Intelligent Traffic Management System in Lahore was also implemented in collaboration and association with the PSCA. Under the initiative, traffic signals with automated timers were installed in different spots across the city along with Automatic Number-Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras. The widely-hailed e-challan system in Lahore, which automatically fines traffic violators in the city, was also launched under this program.
You can find out more about it in the video below.
According to different research studies published by notable journals across the world, the decrease in crime rate tends to have a positive impact on neighbourhood housing values. It essentially means the lower a city ranks on the World Crime Index, the more investors it can potentially attract.
With Lahore being one of the biggest cities in Pakistan boasting a vibrant fusion of history and innovation in terms of real estate development, the latest statistics released by Numbeo can have a positive impact on its property sector. The city is home to some of the most meticulously-planned and aesthetically pleasing residential schemes in the country, which have made it one of the prime spots for real estate investment in Pakistan. The state-of-the-art housing societies in Lahore, some of which are in different phases of development while others are well-established, offer urban infrastructure, top-notch amenities and lavish facilities to its residents.
If you’re interested in buying property in Lahore, the upscale residential schemes of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and Bahria Town Lahore appear to be the most popular choices among those living in the city. However, you can also take a look at our H1 2019 Real Estate Market Report for Lahore to see which areas performed better than the others during the first half of the year.
Furthermore, apart from drawing the attention of real estate investors, the improved World Crime Index ranking of Lahore may also play an imperative part in boosting tourism in the city. Every year, a number of domestic and foreign travellers visit the tourist attractions in Lahore, some of which date back centuries and show the splendour of the Mughal era.
Meanwhile, Karachi has also shown a significant improvement in the World Crime Index. In 2014, the bustling metropolis ranked 6th on the list before dropping to 8th position by mid-year. In 2015, it was graded 10th on the index before dropping 11 points to rank 21st a few months down the lane. In 2016, the City of Lights was categorized 26th, though by mid-2016 it ranked 31. In 2017, Karachi’s ranking on the World Crime Index dropped to 50 and remained the same until mid-2018, when it dropped down to 62. At the start of 2019, the city was graded as 61st on the index. However, it is currently standing at the 71st position.
Islamabad continued to be the safest city to live in Pakistan by ranking 244th on the Numbeo Crime Index 2019 mid-year. Overall, the new statistics have shown a drop in the crime rate in Pakistan.
So, that was all you needed to know about Lahore’s improved World Crime Index ranking. In case you have any queries or want to share your suggestions, feel free to get in touch with us at blog@zameen.com.
If you are interested in buying real estate in Lahore, you may want to consider buying a house or a plot in Bahria Town Lahore and DHA, Lahore, two of the most popular housing schemes in the City of Gardens.
Moreover, stay connected to Zameen Blog, the top property blog in Pakistan, for in-depth analyses of different areas and property types. You can also subscribe to our newsletter on the right to receive the latest updates about the developments in the real estate sector of Pakistan.
Update (January 16th, 2020): As per the latest World Crime Index (WCI) stats released by crime and safety ranking portal Numbeo, Lahore has become safer than several major cities including Paris, Berlin, Rome, Chicago and New York City.
Lahore has ranked 230th on the World Crime Index for January 2020, which is a praiseworthy improvement from its previous ranking of 201 on the World Crime Index mid-2019 report.
Compared to the mid-2019 report, the crime index for Lahore for January 2020 has dropped to 37.43 from 38.43, whereas the safety index has increased to 62.57 from 61.57.
Meanwhile, here is the ranking of some other major metropolises:
- Chicago ranked 49th with a crime index of 63.44 and a safety index of 36.56.
- Rome landed in 110th position on the list, with a crime index of 51.88 and a safety index of 48.12.
- Paris ranked 112th on the World Crime Index for January 2020 with a crime index of 51.76 and a safety index of 48.24.
- Berlin ranked at 200th spot with a crime index of 41.01 and a safety index of 58.99.
- New York City ranked 164th place on the list with a crime index of 44.44 and a safety index of 55.56.
The ranking for Karachi also showed a significant improvement on the index by moving down from 71st position on the mid-year 2019 report to its current 88th ranking. The present crime index of Karachi is 55.20 while its safety index is 44.8.
