Summary Helsinki Safety Survey 2018: a safe and peaceful city A city perceived as safe is to the benefit of its residents’ wellbeing and their autonomy in everyday life. Safety influences people’s mobility and their neighbourhood choices, and this, in turn, influences the city’s development overall. The Helsinki Safety Survey examines the experiences and views of the residents regarding the safety of the city and the development of the safety and security. The survey is implemented in cooperation with the Helsinki Police Department every three years. The findings of the Safety Survey 2018 are reported in this publication. Four different aspects of safety are analysed in the report, namely 1) perceived safety in the neighbourhoods and in the city centre, 2) safety-related concerns, 3) falling victim of crime and suffering accidents, and 4) opinions about the work of the police and rescue authorities. The overall picture of Helsinki conveyed by these analyses is that of a safe and peaceful city for its residents.
In 2018, Helsinki residents felt safer in their neighbourhood, in the city centre and on public transport than at any previous survey round. That year, the economic and social situation was stable, and many good news ran that, for example, employment rates and wage levels were rising. No social fluctuations of any importance occurred. However, responses still varied by respondent group. One in three women, but clearly fewer men, thought Helsinki’s city centre was unsafe. Men twice more often than women felt that their own neighbourhood was totally safe. A positive trend is that women’s sense of insecurity had decreased somewhat compared with earlier survey rounds. Those who had a foreign native language did not feel, to the same extent as Finnish or Swedish native speakers, that Helsinki or their own neighbourhood were safe. Ageing, too, tended to increase feelings of insecurity. Although people tended to feel safer than earlier on public transport, one-quarter of Helsinki residents still felt the metro and the local rail links were unsafe in the evenings. One in ten experienced insecurity at stops and stations, and at the local shopping centre. In this respect, too, women and elderly people felt more insecure than did men. Feelings of insecurity were most common in neighbourhoods near public transport end
Turvallista ja rauhallista – Helsingin turvallisuustutkimus 2018
The city is safer than before
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