Dubai is known under many nicknames. From the Shopping Paradise to the City of Gold and the Gateway to the Gulf. Some of the latest sobriquets of Dubai include the “Global Capital of the Middle East” and the “Gulf’s Most Influential City.” These were just some of the descriptions in Forbes’s latest World’s Most Influential Cities list.
In this ranking, Dubai is listed as the seventh top influential city on the globe. The city has surpassed cosmopolites like San Francisco, Beijing and Sydney and it is the highest listed Middle Eastern city this year. According to Forbes, Dubai is the most well-connected place for air travel and its stands out with its “business-friendly’ environment. In addition to that, the emirate’s population is extremely diverse, since more than 80% of it is expatriates. Also, the U.S. magazine highlights the fact that Dubai is one of the few cities in the region that manages to thrive and maintain its political stability.
Forbes’ Most Influential Cities ranking is based on a number of key factors. Among them are producer services strength, corporate headquarters’ concentration, air connectivity, foreign direct investment, racial diversity of the population, financial services and others.
While the Middle East region rather underrepresented this year, Asia is the true leader on the 2014 list. Four Asian cities managed to sneak into the ranking. Singapore is fourth and that is not surprising given that it is the leading East Asian city in the world at the moment.
Although Tokyo is fifth on the ranking, Forbes states that the city may witness a decline in the next few years. Even though it continues to have the biggest GDP, its lack of regional competition and racial diversity will push Tokyo down the list.
China is the big leader this year. The country has two cities in the top ten – Hong Kong (6) and Beijing (8). Hong Kong is still regarded as the Asia-Pacific’s financial hub. The country’s capital, on the other hand, is seen as main political center in the region. In addition, many large companies have located their headquarters there.
World’s 10 most influential cities in 2014:
- London
- New York
- Paris
- Singapore
- Tokyo
- Hong Kong
- Dubai
- Beijing/Sydney
- San Francisco Bay Area/Los Angeles/Toronto
On the contrary, Europe is losing power. London, which heads this year’s ranking of World’s Most Influential Cities, is probably the only exception here. Paris is also in the top three this year. Still, its score is much lower across all factors compared to London (1) and New York (2). The fact that Paris is in the European Union does help either, since the EU is currently in stagnation.
