Dubai and Abu Dhabi have improved their positions on the ranking which predicts the most competitive cities in the world in 2025. Moreover, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Dubai is also the highest ranked Middle Eastern city.
Compared to 2012, Dubai has jumped with six spots becoming the 23rd top future city. Although Dubai is out of the top 20, it is top achiever for the Middle East region. Abu Dhabi improved its position with two places and now it is 39th.
The study relied on a number of factors to determine the future competitiveness of cities. Among them were the quality of human capital, regulatory and business environment, quality of environmental governance, as well as cultural aspects.
Dubai has managed to improve its position in seven of eight categories in total. The study explains the impressive performance of the City of Gold with the fact that it is currently working to create a future without any petrochemicals.
Thanks to the city’s real estate, tourism and financial services sectors, Dubai occupies the 44th spot on the list for economic strength. The emirate also takes high positions in physical capital (37), global appeal (31), financial maturity (9), as well as human capital (5).
Apart from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, there are four other cities from the Middle East region – Doha, Muscat, Kuwait City and Riyadh. Biggest was the rise of Doha and Muscat which take the 24th and the 64th places, respectively. Both cities climbed with 14 positions during the last one year. Kuwait City is ranked at the 63rd spot which is 12 places higher compared to 2012. Riyadh is the 87th top future in the world after a rise with 11 positions.
On a more global level, the first spot holds New York. Another two North American cities have also found a place on the list. Just like last year, Toronto remains on the 10th place, while Chicago improves its ranking with three spots and lands on the 9th position.
Asian cities also did really well taking three of the top 10 places. These are Singapore (3), Hong Kong (4) and Tokyo. However, all three of them have registered a fall on the list since 2012.
Here is the complete list of the top 10 future cities:
New York
London
Singapore
Hong Kong
Tokyo
Sydney
Paris
Stockholm
Chicago
Toronto
23. Dubai
39. Abu Dhabi
