Design

The Keys to Designing Cities With Fewer Traffic Fatalities

Reduce urban sprawl, for one thing.
The Harajuku Bridge, a pedestrian crossing in Tokyo.Wally Gobetz / Flickr

What do Tokyo, Stockholm, London, Paris, Berlin, and Hong Kong have in common? They’re among the safest cities in the world when it comes to reported traffic fatalities.

Tokyo, a city of more than 13 million, has 1.3 such deaths per 100,000 residents. London, home to more than 8.6 million people, reports just 1.6 traffic deaths per 100,000. In Hong Kong, population 7.2 million, the figure is just 1.8 per 100,000.