Abu Dhabi has been ranked fourth in an international list of the top cities to visit, live and do business in. Although the capital of the United Arab Emirates is relatively new to the rankings, it has come in right behind the major cities of New York, London and Paris.
In an online poll carried out by research firm Ipsos MORI this February, Abu Dhabi was named as the world’s fourth favourite city with an overall rating of 47 points. With 68 points, New York topped the “World’s Favourite City”, Zurich was chosen the “Best City to Live In”, and Paris was named the “Best City to Visit”. The survey, called The Ipsos Top Cities Index surveyed 18,147 people ages 16 to 64 from 24 countries and their opinions on the best places for work, rest and travel. They were asked to rate 48 cities in five different categories – favorite city, best city to live in, best city to do business, Europe’s top city, and best city to visit. Although UAE residents were not polled, Abu Dhabi took a huge support from Saudi Arabians, Italians, Spanish, as well as from Belgium residents. Dubai wasn’t among the options in the survey to get any ranking.
In the business category, the UAE capital performed better than most, coming at second position, right behind New York. This was as a result from the vote of people in Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Spain and Italy who ranked it first. The city was also voted the sixth best place to visit, the seventh best place to work and the sixth best place to play with Germans giving it the third place in this category. The cities which “could do better” were Moscow, Brussels, Madrid, Istanbul and Bangkok, while at the bottom of the list, as least popular cities, were Budapest, Casablanca, Warsaw, Tehran, and Karachi in Pakistan, which had zero points.
According to Ben Page, Chief Executive of Ipsos MORI, all people are chauvinistic in general. But the survey gives a better view not only on what people think of the global cities, but on their own, too. The respondents were asked to make their rankings, based on both their own experience and on what they had heard from others. The Japanese people placed Tokyo first in all categories and the similar results were reported from Turkey where people voted for Istanbul. At the same time, Germans ranked Berlin as the best place to live and second best place for business, while for the travel category, they didn’t even include it in top 10.
Another ranking showed also positive results for the UAE. In the Global Competitiveness Report, the annual survey of the World Economic Forum, the country jumped to No. 19 from its 25th position last year.
